A section of the Lusignan landfill on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) erupted in flames on Wednesday morning.
The Communities Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the fire was initially spotted at about 05:00hrs.
A release from the ministry stated that an alarm was raised by Site Manager, Lloyd Stanton after he arrived one hour after the fire had started.
“There, thick smoke was emanating from the southern end of the landfill site. The incident was reported and a contractor was summoned to assist in quelling the blaze. However, the inferno had already consumed about 300-400 square meters of the property,” the release added.
A team of six personnel with assistance by an excavator and a water pump were used to contain the blaze but it reportedly took them a few hours to do so.
Landfill fires are prone to resurface if not doused properly. In some cases, the heat penetrates layers of debris, and remain trapped.
