At 6:30pm, emergency relief units from Phuket Municipality were called to investigate the fire which had broken out at the landfill site behind the Phuket incinerator. Officials arrived at site with five fire trucks and Kusoldharm rescue workers.
The landfill site covers an area of more than 10 rai and the fire broke out on an area close to the incinerator.
“Every day, OrBorTor rubbish trucks bring rubbish to the incinerator where it is seperated. Some of the rubbish is burnt in the incineraton whilst the remainder is dumped in the landfill site,” said an official.
The rubbish was buring very fast and thick smoke filled the air.
Firemen sprayed water onto the rubbish whilst an excavator was digging the rubbish up.
It took firemen over two hours to put the fire out but as there was a lot of plastic waste they had to remain onsite and continue to put water on the area to ensure it didn̕t start to burn again.
Witnesses who saw the fire said that the fire started on a small area but escalated very quickly to a larger area.
Officials have said that there are a couple of possibilities as to why the fire startred. Solar heat was one possibility as plastic will burn after being exposed to the sun for too long.
Another possibilty is that burning cigarettes butts may have been thrown into the landfill site.
Officials have confirmed that they will investigate to find out the real cause of the fire as the landfill site is full of hazardous materials such as chemicals and plastic which could cause problems to local̕s health once smoke gets in to the air.