Prolonged dry season increases chances of landfill fires – site supervisor

Haags Bosch dumpsite

An extensive dry season in Guyana can increase the possibility of landfill fires at the Haags-Bosch dumpsite, Eccles, East Bank Demerara, if precautionary measures are not taken beforehand.
This is according to the Site Supervisor for the Communities Ministry, Lloyd Stanton, who related last week that a dry season will intensify these chances, but close monitoring can prevent such occurrences.
“A prolonged dry season in the worst-case scenario, the only thing we have to look out for is fires. Prolonged dry season is going to increase our chances of getting a fire but once we continue our monitoring as done… most of the pickers know what to look out for, most of the staff know what to look out for,” Stanton said.
As an experienced recruit in this field, it was highlighted that workers onsite can lookout for smells and soil textures that can indicate if something seems uncanny.
“One of the simplest signs is being past the required heat before bursting into fire is the smell of rotten eggs. It means that down there is getting very hot and it’s likely to burst into flames. Another things is that the area becomes very fluid. You would find that when a machine moves on it, the machine is vibrating extra than usual.”
This means the layers of garbage beneath the ground are heating up which calls for immediate attention.
“It’s getting very hot so what we would do in cases like that is we have a fire tender available on site. We just go and create a small opening and we keep dousing water so the water runs down and cool that area.”
Stanton is positive that as long as workers take up the mantle of close observation, landfill fires can be prevented.
“It just means that we have to increase our monitoring but that’s the main downside of having an extended dry season. The prevalence of fire increases.”
In 2015, a fire erupted at the dumpsite and was extinguished after many weeks of combined efforts. After consuming the site and affecting many nearby residents, workers managed to restore the landfill and it has been up and running ever since. New equipment, such as shredders and a tarpaulin deployer, were also installed to assist with innovative waste composting and storage.