The latest fire at Mangrove Pond Landfill in St. Thomas which raged for most of today, started in the northern section where tyres are stored, leading Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard to conclude that something had gone wrong
While stopping short of blaming the storage practices of Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) officials at the facility, the senior officer acknowledged there was a cause for concern as fire officials were called in to battle a fire there for the second time in less than a year.
Meanwhile, though Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod has admitted the issue of tyre storage remains problematic, he is adamant that the SSA is not responsible for today’s event.
In the early hours of Monday morning, officials from the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA), Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre (SBRC), Jose Y Jose and the Ministry of Transport and Works were busy dousing burning tyres in a section of the landfill.
According to SSA Engineering Manager, Leona Deane, a loud explosion occurred around 5 a.m. prompting a swift response.
Hours later people in the northern and western sections of the island were greeted with a large cloud of thick, black smoke billowing hundreds of metres into the sky.
On the scene, large trucks and tractors were used to cover the burning cells with topsoil, while separating burning tyres from those not yet on fire.
But high-level officials appeared to have differing theories about the possible origin of Monday’s fire.
“We could appreciate that within landfills, if we don’t have everything right, the possibility of having a fire is always there,” said the Chief Fire Officer, before stressing that a thorough investigation would be more conclusive.
Pressed further, he added: “We know we have issues regarding the storage of tyres and what we do with tyres and this fire is among the tyres and that means something has gone wrong.”
In a swift rebuttal, Minister Prescod, instead sought to blame the impact of “climate change”.
“As long as we have challenges arising from climate change and there is heat intensity on the landfill, the chances are that combustion would occur. The landfill accumulates gas and all over the world you are finding gardens burning, forest fires, and combustions in landfills. So the highest possibility is that this is the result of heat,” stressed Prescod.
“So it is not a case of the deficiencies in the way that things are managed. I just want to make that extremely clear,” he pointed out.
The Environment Minister however admitted he was concerned about a scarcity in dumping space for tyres and promised a swift response after conducting “a lot of research”.
Last February, the same section of the Mangrove Pond Landfill burst into flames, and continued for over two days, leaving those in surrounding communities demanding a permanent solution.
On this occasion, the Monday morning heat along with other atmospheric conditions saved those immediately downwind from experiencing the full effects of the fire.
But the situation remained volatile with changes in wind direction changed throughout the day. As a result, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer Ronald Chapman revealed that Ministry of Health officials remained on standby.
“There is a very small amount of smoke that is getting down there and we are advising residents to be mindful and those persons who are asthmatic or have respiratory problems can move out of the area for the time being,” said Chapman.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
