Western Sanitary Landfill Fire Under Control

A raging fire at the Western Sanitary Landfill has been burning for nearly a day and a half. While it was a major concern on Monday night, an official from the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority assures that the blaze is now under control and will soon be extinguished. The fire started mid-morning on Monday in the brush near the facility, likely set by someone seen in the area just minutes before. This raises the issue of the dangers posed by deliberately set fires that can quickly spread, threatening lives and property. The flames came dangerously close to the transfer station buildings, making it a priority to save them. But there’s good news this evening—the fire is expected to be fully extinguished by tonight. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

This video, posted on Monday night, shows a raging fire out of control and threatening anything in its path. This was the scene near the Belize Solid Waste Management Authority’s Western Sanitary Landfill as night fell. The fire was dangerously close to the facility’s buildings, but thanks to quick teamwork among the National Fire Service, the San Ignacio/Santa Elena Town Council, and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, the structures were saved.

 

Rojelio Pop, Operations Manager, BSWAMA

“Our protocol is working reasonably okay. Our priority had to change from actually containing the fire yesterday and we moved to protecting the buildings and the offices that you see here. So we created that buffer – fifteen to twenty feet – away from the building because the waste was really close to the buildings. So that had to be our priority, dowsing with the help of  MIDH and private companies providing water. We had about three fire trucks here – continuous operation until we had to move the garbage away from the buildings.”

 

San Ignacio/Santa Elena Mayor Earl Trapp was one of the first to offer his resources to help.

 

Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio/Santa Elena

“I was called out about one thirty in the afternoon and told that the fire was getting out of control and the place was catching fire and they needed support. I tried my best to get the town council’s heavy-duty equipment out there. I had a problem getting the operator, so the best I could have done was to get our water bowser and I had the driver take that out there and that’s how we were basically supplying the fire engine with water. I called some other friends and they came and so we had five bowsers out there.”

 

The Ministry of Infrastructure Development quickly stepped in to provide an excavator, which is still at the site helping out. With all the resources working together to extinguish the fire, Rojelio Pop, the operations manager at BSWAMA, is hopeful that the blaze will be completely under control by early tonight.

 

Rojelio Pop

“We don’t have a definite timeline, but what we’re hoping for is that we can bring it under complete control by this evening. As long as we have a sustained supply of water – we have these machines, they are willing to work, but water is the problem. Once we can sustain the flow of water, we should be able to get it under control, hopefully by tonight.”

 

Pop assured that the work crew fighting the fire is equipped with proper gear to protect them from the toxic fumes coming from the burning garbage.

 

Rojelio Pop

“Those guys who are operating the machines are receiving some sort of help from the fire service in terms of smoke masks that are complemented with the use of direct oxygen so that oxygen does not get into their lungs or they do not inhale all that toxic smoke. So they’re inhaling oxygen at this point.”

 

But even though firefighting efforts are in full swing, the business of collecting and dumping garbage continues, according to the Acting Director, Aldo Cansino.

 

Aldo Cansino, Acting Director, BSWAMA

“If you notice in the background you have two trucks waiting. The process here will not stop. It will continue. We will continue to load garbage from within the transfer station and that will continue to move, hence the priority initially was to make sure that we have the site secured so that the operations can continue. This morning we had a bit of a delay because we still had some issues, but the trucks are here and we should get back on track.”

 

Mayor Trapp strongly believes that human carelessness is to blame for the blaze.

 

Earl Trapp

“According to the watchman, he saw someone walk out of the bushes, which is about 2,000 feet from the transfer station and about ten minutes after he saw smoke, So he is believing that’s where the fire started.”

 

Although there’s no surveillance to identify the culprit, fortunately, there are no residential communities nearby. Plus, the wind is blowing the smoke towards the hills, so it shouldn’t pose much of a threat to anyone. Marion Ali for News Five.