Firefighters were called to the landfill site, on the edge of Phuket Town in Saphan Hin, at about 1am on Saturday (Feb 17) after a security guard heard an explosion and confirmed that a section of the ‘Pond 4’ of the landfill was ablaze.
Firefighters and water trucks from Phuket City Municipality and other local administration organisations, including the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO), arrived and soon had the fire under control, officials reported.
However, photos taken well into the morning showed parts of the landfill still smouldering.
Firefighters remained on site to ensure the fire did not start up again. They used a backhoe to break open mounds and soak them with water and doused the boundary of the land fill site to ensure the surrounding dry vegetation did not catch fire, officials noted.
The fire spread quickly because of strong winds, explained Phuket Town Deputy Mayor Supachoke La-ongphet.
‘Pond 4’ is the largest of the five landfill areas at the landfill dump near the incinerator. The entire landfill contains some 400,000 tonnes of waste, he added.
Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat later arrived at the scene to oversee operations and be briefed on the containment of the fire.
Firefighters were still on watch for any further outbreaks of fire at the landfill, Governor Sophon was assured.
Governor Sophon urged local residents and tourists to separate their trash before disposing of it.
“This is a good thing, which will prevent waste from ending up in landfills, which adds to the volume of waste at the landfill,” he said.
“I would like to ask Phuket residents and tourists to help by separating garbage before throwing it away, including wet garbage that can be used to make compost,” Governor Sophon said.
“And most importantly, please separate hazardous waste, such as spray bottles, perfume bottles and any gas canisters that are still not completely empty, because if these bottles are thrown in together with regular trash, when heated they can explode and cause fires,” he added.
“The PPAO has a process for disposal of hazardous waste,” Governor Sophon noted.
“Meanwhile, to solve the long-term problem, Phuket City Municipality is constructing another incinerator, which will take 18 months, instead of the original three years, Governor Sophon said.