Nearly half a month of simmering
On April 14, records at the scene showed that the fire at the centralized landfill in Quang Ninh commune (Quang Tri province) was basically extinguished. The stench and dust also decreased significantly. Currently, only small clusters of smoke are rising from below the layers of garbage.
Answering Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Tran Xuan Tinh - Chairman of Quang Ninh Commune People's Committee - said that after many days of efforts, the fire has now been controlled.
Currently, the forces have extinguished the fire. Only a few small clusters of smoke are rising. There is a situation where it is extinguished at night, and it reappears the next morning, so we will continue to handle it thoroughly," Mr. Tinh said.
In the process of overcoming the incident, the locality has temporarily stopped receiving domestic waste from neighboring communes to reduce pressure on the landfill area and limit the risk of fire spread. This is considered a necessary solution in the context of the complicated and prolonged fire situation for many days.
Currently, when the fire has been controlled, the collection of garbage has begun to be recalculated in a flexible direction. According to local leaders, some garbage trucks have temporarily gathered in the vicinity, quite far from the fire point. After thoroughly handling the negative fire points, the entire area will be leveled, ensuring safety before returning to normal operation.
Previously, on April 7, Lao Dong Newspaper reflected the situation of a concentrated landfill in this commune burning for many days, causing environmental pollution, affecting people and visibility of vehicles moving on the Bung - Van Ninh expressway when odors and dust spread widely.
After the reflection, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province requested the People's Committee of Quang Ninh commune to preside over and coordinate with departments, branches and related units to urgently deploy a plan to thoroughly handle the fire, not to let prolonged environmental pollution occur.
According to Quang Ninh Commune People's Committee, the landfill caught fire on March 31, 2026. Immediately after discovering it, local authorities mobilized local forces to deploy measures to zone, extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to the surrounding forest area.
The fire is complicated, continued monitoring
To extinguish the fire, in the early days, the Fire and Rescue Police force of Quang Tri province mobilized fire trucks to the scene to coordinate handling. However, due to the specific nature of the landfill having a thick layer of garbage, containing many flammable objects and burning deep inside, firefighting work encountered many difficulties.
In the following days, dozens of officers, soldiers and local forces along with many vehicles such as excavators, bulldozers, and trucks were continuously mobilized. Measures were deployed synchronously such as leveling, covering soil, isolating each fire area, combined with manual extinguishing at negative fire points. Field surveillance was maintained 24/24 hours to promptly handle arising points.
After that, the fire was basically zoned off, and the amount of smoke decreased significantly. However, due to hot weather and strong winds, negative fire points still existed, causing the treatment process to take longer than expected.
On April 9, Quang Ninh Commune People's Committee held a meeting with the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Quang Tri Provincial Police and related units to agree on a thorough handling plan. At the same time, requesting the Quang Ninh Public Works Management Board (the unit managing and operating the landfill) to increase personnel and vehicles, and deploy synchronous firefighting in the near future.
According to the leader of Quang Ninh Commune People's Committee, although the fire has been basically controlled, the locality still maintains forces to monitor and control to avoid the risk of fire returning.
