Tyres still igniting miles from dump

| 24/09/2018 | 24 Comments
Cayman News Service

Area near the entrance where the tyres smoldered over the weekend

(CNS): The problems of burning tyres that plagued the George Town landfill until government entered into a contract to shred and remove the rubber appears to have moved with the material, with reports of a fire in South Sound Road this weekend. Officials from the home affairs ministry said on Sunday that they believed the fire was completely extinguish after igniting on Friday afternoon at a development site behind Velo Condos. In its first release about the issue, the ministry said that a mound of recycled tyre-derived aggregate on the property was under control, with “no visible flame and very little smoke”, and that the situation was under control and posed no danger.

CNS tried to gain access to the site following the release of the information but was refused entry, however we were able to smell the burning rubber and see smoke. It is understood that it was the acrid smell and smoke that had raised the alarm, despite officials repeatedly claiming that there was no threat to the public or surrounding property.

Officials said that on arrival, fire fighters damped down, dug out and redistributed the area that was smoldering, and fire-crews remained on the site through Friday night. On Saturday the Cayman Islands Fire Service reported that the burning area had been dug out and the rubber aggregate mound completely extinguished. But on Sunday more ‘hot spots’ were found to be smoldering and more fire-fighters returned to apply water.

Chief Fire Officer David Hails stated that the hot spots were contained within the stack of aggregate and posed no risk to the public or surrounding properties. The fire service also said it was working with the owner to ensure that there is no recurrence of the situation. It is not clear how the fires started or what work is being done to prevent the re-ignition of the pile of aggregate.

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Comments (24)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I was under the impression the material was going to be sent to ironwood golf course to fill the swamp land there for the golf course. Never in my dreams I would have thought the Developers would use materials that I believe is not strong enough to sustain a 3 storey building less alone the health and safety risks when the metal in the tires starts to break down. How can Planning approve this? If this is the new norm for construction how does one arrange to start filling private residences? Local contractors should be able to minimize their costs too for bigger return.

  2. Anonymous says:

    From the air most of Cayman is a swamp. Let Dart have it. He provides jobs. No problem. What is wrong with all of you that hate Dart!!!
    Build a new dump now.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Come on private sector you can do better than this.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Move the dump now!!!!

    When all those poor children get cancer and other latent illnesses from going to school next to that extremely posionous dump government is going to be sued as well at the school !!! Watch and see …

    Move the dump now !!!

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    • Refuse Disposal Specialist says:

      The dump was there first. No-one asked Dart to build a school next to it, how daft can you get!

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      • Anonymous says:

        and the kicker is he’s planning to put residential homes all around the area as well. nice way to spend a good chunk of money to die quicker.

    • Anonymous says:

      @1.18
      Unfortunately, it is too late. The Dump is here to stay. It has no lining, capping won’t accomplish anything. It can’t be moved either.
      I don’t know who in their right mind would send children to a school at the foot of the Dump.

      • Anonymous says:

        the spending of the wealthy should never baffle you. who else pays top dollar to live on the sand next to the limitless power of the ocean on a island in the hurricane belt?

  5. Anonymous says:

    It’s all on the internet if you bother to look.

    This was posted in 2012 – http://www.hse.gov.uk/rubber/spontaneous.htm

    That’s the problem here – too many stupid people running things.

    • Anonymous says:

      Just got to correct my 1:06 comment. These guidelines were apparently originally drafted in 2012 and this is the latest version.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Now we know why the condo foundations are sinking

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  7. Anonymous says:

    who is the property owner?

  8. Anonymous says:

    11:12am you sound sick.

  9. Anonymous says:

    It s obvious rainwater caused spontaneous combustion. Need to tarp the big piles or spread out. Any big pile of organic material will do this.

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  10. Poli tricks says:

    Time for a new dump with proper recycling processes for plastics, glass, and metals.

    But what happen with relocating the dump in the Bodden Town area???

    Oh forgot, it would be spreading the garbage, it would kill the swamp lands, and Dart would cap Mt. Trashmore and get more wealth from it! So we settled for the eyesore dump we have now!

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