Retirement dump blaze contained after smoke hits Montego Bay

ST JAMES, Jamaica — Authorities report that a fresh blaze at the Retirement landfill has been brought under control.

Smoke had been rising from the site since Wednesday, covering parts of Montego Bay. At the St James Municipal Corporation’s regular monthly sitting, Senior Public Cleansing Inspector Louis Porter told councillors the fire is being held in check.

“We are doing all that we can to prevent further spread with our tipper trucks and water truck currently on site moving material to stockpile and help with the blaze,” Porter said. “Currently at the landfill we have things under control,” he added, noting crews have kept up a steady response.

“The team has responded by using equipment and material on site to put out flames but the wind has been very high but all efforts to contain the blaze was successful,” he said. “Currently we have 100 metres of the edge burning and one piece of equipment suffered damage during the operation,” he further reported.

Porter also offered a possible explanation for how the fire started. “Based on the update this morning, we currently have a fire on cell one, the tipping area, and the origin of the fire is suspected to be something that was brought in by the collection of our units,” he said.

Waste pickers at the landfill were the first to alert staff.