The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS TOXIC smoke from the New Providence Landfill continued to blanket communities yesterday, Deputy Director of Environmental Services Thomasina Wilson said the fire, which has been burning for nearly two weeks, is 80 per cent extinguished.

Ms Wilson said while it rained for several hours on Tuesday, the brief showers exposed hot spots and caused the smoke to rise.

However, yesterday, many residents in southern New Providence still complained of heavy smoke in their communities, a government clinic closed temporarily and some schools again shut early to avoid exposing the students to the smoke.

The Department of Public Health announced last night the Flamingo Gardens Clinic will be closed until Friday because of an increase in the “smoke fumes” infiltrating the building.

“Persons in need of medical care should visit the South Beach Health Centre,” a Department statement said. The hours of operations for Thursday and Friday at the South Beach Health Centre will be 9am to midnight.”

Bahamas Academy and Garvin Tynes Primary School closed early yesterday. Workers House Academy and Government High School were among those that had also shut early because of smoke the previous day.

Ms Wilson said the smoke has settled down and firefighters are working hard to fully put out the blaze.

“The aerial drops of FireIce have helped tremendously,” she said. “We are now fighting the fires on the ground and trying to make inroads. The smoke has picked up quite a bit but we are working in the back of the wind. We had some rain but it made matters worse and exposed some hot spots but it has settled down now.”

On March 5, a massive blaze broke out at the Harrold Road landfill site, blanketing nearby communities, and in particular Jubilee Gardens, in thick, black hazardous smoke and forcing residents in that community to evacuate their homes.

On Monday, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett said GelTech Solutions, a company that specialises in fighting fires while protecting the environment, has been contracted by the government to assist in extinguishing the massive blaze. He told The Tribune the US-based company, along with Fletcher Air, began dropping FireIce - a firefighting gel - on the sites at the landfill on Sunday, that were either too dangerous or unreachable by firefighters.

On Tuesday, Mr Dorsett said the inclement weather had not done much to help tackle the fire but did contribute to rising smoke.

“Whether or not (the rainy weather) helped I’d prefer to say yes and no,” he told reporters. “It didn’t come in sufficient quantities and for a length of time to make a significant impact. But what it did do is cause a lot of steam to rise, so now smoke. It has put it out in some pockets, but the smoke is now very high so when the sun comes out the smoke which you now see shifting toward the north should dissipate and we should be able to make an assessment.

“As a result of the rain and the smoke, we have not been able to begin our air drops for the aircraft to date because visibility at the landfill is a challenge,” he said.