A week living in pollution
According to reflections from residents of Le Ky 1 village, for the past week, the landfill concentrated in Quang Ninh commune, Quang Tri province has been continuously smoldering, creating dense black smoke columns rising high. The pungent smell from burnt waste, especially plastic and nylon, spreads widely, creeping into residential areas about 1km away, making the air always suffocating.
Recorded at the scene, the fire points did not erupt into large flames but simmered deep under the thick layer of garbage. This characteristic makes it difficult to extinguish the fire, because when the garbage layer above is treated, there are still hot spots underneath that continue to generate toxic smoke.
People living near the area said that the pollution situation has directly affected daily life. Ms. Tran Thi Dao (resident of Le Ky 1 village) shared: "The stench is strong, there are many flies and mosquitoes. Many times eating and drinking requires sitting in mosquito nets. Adults can still endure it, only worried about affecting their children and grandchildren later.
Not only causing inconvenience in daily life, smoke from the landfill also makes many people worried about the risk of affecting community health. Ms. Tran Thi Xuyen (from the same village) said: "Wind blowing is a very unpleasant odor, many flies are unbearable. Young children in the house often cough and have a runny nose continuously. We hope the government will soon handle it thoroughly and have long-term measures instead of letting the fire last for so long like this.
Notably, while the fire has not been completely extinguished, garbage dumping activities are still taking place. Garbage trucks continue to bring new garbage to the area near the fire point, increasing the risk of fire spreading and making the pollution situation more serious.
This landfill is located about 400m from the Bung - Van Ninh expressway. At times of strong winds, thick smoke can overflow onto the road surface, potentially affecting the visibility of vehicles, causing traffic unsafety.
Finding firefighting solutions
Faced with the above situation, local authorities have implemented handling measures. Functional forces mobilized vehicles to transport soil to cover the fire points, combined with leveling to isolate and extinguish the fire. However, due to the large amount of garbage and prolonged smoke, handling still requires more time.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Xuan Tinh - Chairman of Quang Ninh Commune People's Committee said that this landfill used to serve the collection of garbage in the old district area. After discovering the incident, the locality informed the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Fire and Rescue Police Department of Quang Tri Province to coordinate in finding solutions to overcome it.
The cause is being verified, possibly due to flammable objects in waste such as lighters. Currently, we are focusing on measures to put out the fire, in which covering the fire with soil is a solution to control the fire points," Mr. Tinh said.
According to the commune leader, the Fire and Rescue Police force has also brought vehicles to the scene to coordinate handling. The Department of Agriculture and Environment has conducted inspections and assessments of the actual situation to come up with appropriate handling directions in the near future.
