|
|
|
 |
|
|
Dump fire extinguished, but cause still unknown ~ Plan to be devised to fight big fires at dump ~
by The Daily Herald
Posted: Jan 4, 2006 15:08 UTC
|
PHILIPSBURG - The Philipsburg landfill fire has been halted, but the cause is still a mystery, Public Works Department Head of Maintenance Claudius Buncamper told The Daily Herald Tuesday.
According to Officer Marco Kaak of the Philipsburg Fire Department, the department plans to establish “a special plan of action” to deal with future fires of the magnitude it encountered at the Philipsburg dumpsite Sunday night.
Buncamper said the fire had started late Sunday afternoon (New Year’s Day) and was put out by 4:00am Monday as dirt was piled on top of it. The heavy winds were also blamed for the duration of the fire, as they made it difficult to battle the flames, he added.
The smoke is expected to continue for the next couple of days, as the area where the fire occurred has a lot of uncovered garbage.
Kaak said Tuesday the fire, which left a large cloud of smoke over Philipsburg and Fort Willem on Monday, was for the most part under control, but it was still necessary to cover other areas with sand to put it out.
“We carried out an inspection of the area and found that the Public Works Department and Windward Roads had done an excellent job controlling the fire. We noticed that the fire was very much under control and that the smoke was significantly less,” Kaak said.
The fire started Sunday between 9:00pm and 11:00pm and resulted in large clouds of smoke in different areas. Windward Roads and the Public Works Department used two excavators and trucks to transport sand to the area to cover and put out the fire, as it was too risky for fire fighters to use their equipment in that area.
Kaak said the plan of action was important so everyone would know what his responsibility was, especially in the event of another such incident.
Meanwhile, asked if any research was being done to determine how harmful the smoke from the dump is, Buncamper said, “All smoke in large quantity isn’t healthy. However, this only affected a few areas when the fire occurred, due to the wind.”
The landfill is almost at capacity. To tackle this, the governments of the Dutch and French sides of the island are working together on a comprehensive waste disposal project. The preliminary studies have been completed and funding is being sought for the project.
It also has to be decided where the envisioned waste-to-energy plant will be placed, based on accessibility and cost-effectiveness. Public Works Commissioner Roy Marlin is very involved with this project and hopes to see more progress in the coming months.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Content © The Daily Herald 2006 - All Rights Reserved.
You may bookmark this web page, print it or e-mail it to
a friend in accordance with the fair-use provisions of
copyright laws. The material is intended solely for the use
of the individual user.
Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this
material
on other terms, in any medium, requires the express
written permission of the author or publication and the
notification of the editors of Caribseek News. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
