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Monday, May 01, 2006
Irisan dumpsite caught fire anew
NOTICE the putrid smell along Naguilian Road all the way to Abanao Street last Friday? The smell could have emanated from the Irisan dumpsite, which caught fire at 10:30 to 11 p.m. last Thursday.
Dominador Urbanozo of the City Environment and Parks Management Office said that because a large portion of the dumpsite burned, responding firefighters had difficulty in putting off the fire.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said the fire that started at the dumpsite's retaining walls was put-off Saturday morning.
Samson Sumad-en, a BFP investigator, said the blaze might have been intentional and not due to the burning of methane gas. He said if burning was due to methane, combustion would have been spontaneous and concentrated on a certain area only.
Sumad-en said there was a simultaneous burning in several areas of the dumpsite.
With the development, the BFP supports the proposal of the Irisan dump technical working group that the dumpsite should be fenced off and that only selected personnel be allowed entry.
It took days for the BFP, firefighters from Camp John Hay, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and water delivery concessionaires to put off the dumpsite fire.
Last year, a fire also broke out that prompted Mayor Braulio Yaranon to ask the City Council to declare the dumpsite a calamity area so that calamity funds could be accessed.
The technical working group then requested P1.3 million as containment funds but the City Council turned down the request. Instead, it approved the proposal of Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia for a P1 million appropriation. The fund came from the P32-million solid waste management budget.
The group head, Nazita Bañez, said that dousing the fire with water is not enough since it recurs a few days after because of the burning of methane gas. (RO)
(May 1, 2006 issue)
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