An incident involving a man found in a garbage dumpster could have been a lot worse.

Moncton Fire Chief Conrad Landry says it happened on Wednesday morning.

“When the company arrived, they actually dumped the bin in their truck. As they were about to load up a second dumpster, they heard someone screaming for help inside. They stopped and then called us. We needed to use the ladders to climb in the truck and to get the individual out. There was no injuries, but it could have been a lot worse if the compactor in the truck had been activated.”

Landry adds they don’t get a lot of calls like this, but it is a common concern, because most garbage bins are not locked.

“When individuals go in there to search for food or anything else, they can definitely get hurt. People should lock these garbage bins, have some kind of a locking mechanism,” Landry adds.

He says Community Officers try to stress a couple of safety issues when talking to people.  One is not go into dumpsters, and the other is not to dig a tunnel into the snow in the winter to stay warm, because plows could come and bury you in.

“We really try to educate everyone, including the homeless population,” Landry says,

Dumpster fires have also been a concern for the Moncton Fire Department. Landry says sometimes it’s a case of mischief, while other times people may climb in and set the debris on fire to try and stay warm and the flames get out of hand.

“We do get three, four or five calls per day in that similar nature, either a little bonfire or dumpster fire or garbage fire,” he says.

He says people could end up getting hurt.