A garbage truck caught fire in Silverdale on Friday morning.

Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue batallion chief Greg Platz said the Waste Management garbage truck operators noticed smoke coming out of the back of their truck, and followed protocol by dumping the load in an unoccupied parking lot.

The approximately six-foot-high pile of garbage was unloaded, still burning, behind a strip mall on Silverdale Way. The fire was “fully involved” when Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue crews arrived around 11:30 a.m.

“It was a big huge pile of garbage on fire,” batallion chief Greg Platz said.

Multiple witnesses said they heard loud pops that sounded like explosions coming from the conflagration. Platz said it may have been aerosol cans combusting.

Brian Austin, a tattoo artist at Golden Rule Tattoo and Body Piercing, said he came outside his shop and saw the flames and heard “pretty loud” pops. He said the truck operators were trying to deal with the mess.

“They tried to dump some of the load out,” he said. “Then they pulled forward and just dumped the whole load.”

He said they tried to use a fire extinguisher, to no avail.

CKFR responded with a fire engine, a ladder truck and a medical vehicle. They were able to put the fire out in about five minutes, Platz said.

By 12:30 p.m. the garbage pile was smoldering slightly in places. Platz said Waste Management was bringing additional equipment to dispose of the charred remains.