Update – Fire at Mangrove Landfill

Fire officials say the blaze which started at the Mangrove Pond Landfill , St Thomas, around 6 a.m. Sunday, February 17, has been contained but efforts are continuing to extinguish it.

“The fire has been contained at the moment. What we are doing now is to blanket it and to get it extinguished but that will take time . . . so I cannot estimate how much time it will actually take. But we will not leave here until it is finally extinguished,” assured Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard.

Bulldozers are applying top soil to the affected area.

Police, fire officers, personnel from the Barbados Defence Force, Minister of Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod and representatives from the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) remain on the scene.

Minister Prescod assured that every effort was being made “to restore a level of comfort shortly,” even as he appealed to the public to exercise patience while the situation is being handled.

SSA Public Relations Officer Carl Padmore said at this stage residents will not be evacuated from the area. He has, however, urged those with respiratory conditions to exercise caution.