Responders Hope Water Drops Over Landfill Help Extinguish Fire Within Two Days

Coordinated response efforts at the Bovoni landfill on St. Thomas include a series of aerial water drops, which began Wednesday afternoon and will continue over the next two days in hopes of fully extinguishing the blaze that started last week but has continued to smolder and reignite.

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. declared a State of Emergency Wednesday night that triggered more assistance coming from both local and regional sources. In the past week, local water and trucking companies have assembled, along with V.I. Fire and Emergency Management Services, the Waste Management Authority, St. Thomas Rescue and the V.I. Waste Management Authority, but the around-the-clock effort has been met with setbacks as high winds and heat have exacerbated the situation.

“The fire is not sustainably contained and external assistance is required to extinguish the flames below the surface of the green waste area of the Bovoni landfill,” according to the Executive Order accompanying the State of Emergency declaration. “Immediate action must be taken to secure the necessary support to extinguish the fire, including coordination of firefighting assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.”

The compact, which is law in all 50 states and the nation’s territories, offers assistance during governor-declared states of emergency or disaster through a system that allows states to send personnel, equipment, and commodities to assist with response and recovery efforts in other states, according to the EMAC website.