Barbados Today

NASSAU – Firefighters are battling a “large blaze” at the New Providence Landfill on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after tackling a massive fire at the city dump that burned for nearly a month.

Officer in Charge of Fire Services, Chief Superintendent Walter Evans, said the current fire is “not connected” in any way to the previous blaze and at this time they do not know what caused the fire.

The blaze started shortly after 3am and Supt Evans said they expect to battle the fire for at least another day but he said the wind is a “huge factor”.

Supt Evans said that, fortunately, the smoke over the surrounding areas is “minimal” but a team is out in Tall Pines, Jubilee Gardens, Victoria Gardens and Fire trail Road doing assessments.

Supt Evans also said firefighters had to pull resources from the dump around 7am after two separate fires broke out off Independence Highway and Golden Gates #1.

“We got a call before 3am, that a fire had broken out at the dump. when we got there we met a large area on fire at the landfill,” Supt Evans told The Tribune. “This area is not connected to the last fire we had last month, the most recent fire. This is a new area and we have a full team out there to asses the fire. The smoke is not as bad as the first one but there is plenty smoke being emitted form the fire. Wind is playing a factor in this but the smoke is not sitting in any one area.”

Supt Evans said firefighters were also battling fires at two structures but they have been extinguished.

“While we were at the landfill we got another call around 7am that there was fire in Golden Gates #1,” he said. “When we arrived we met a concrete structure completely engulfed in flames. The entire house was destroyed. While fighting that fire, we got another call of another fire, this time off Independence Highway. It came in as a building fire but it was a bush fire. Both fires are extinguished and we had no reports of any injuries.”

The city dump has been plagued with recurring fires for years, with the March blaze being considered as the worst to hit the site. (Tribune242)