By PAULO SILVESTRE [email protected]
A fire that broke out at the premises of Inertegarve recycling company in the Ludo area near Faro on September 12 was still burning at the time the Algarve Resident went to press on Wednesday.
A spokesman from the Command of Rescue Operations Control in the Algarve (CDOS) told Lusa news agency: “The fire continues to consume materials at the recycling centre. Currently, the team of fire fighters to prevent any spread to the surrounding forest has been reduced to two men and a fire truck.
“There are still materials such as wood and plastics, which are highly flammable and take a long time to consume. There is no prediction of when the fire will be fully extinct.”
The fire has already consumed a large quantity of materials, causing the release of smoke for several days, causing concern to residents of surrounding areas.
Deeply concerned
Faro resident Christian Mertens told the Algarve Resident: “It has been said that the fire was extinguished after one day, but there is still as much smoke as on the first day. We are deeply concerned about our health and the health of our newborn baby. This is a very serious issue for the health of the people.”
Susanne Drucker, a resident in Vilamoura, said: “What will be the effect of these fumes? Especially as the dump is situated between Faro, a holiday resort, and inside a protected nature reserve area. I was hoping for the strongest measures to put that fire out as quickly as possible.”
Irlandino Santos, the commander of the Loulé fire fighters, explained that the great difficulty in extinguishing the fire is due to the fact that the materials are stacked in piles up to 10 metres tall and 20 metres in diameter.
“There are large volumes of flammable material and there is no way to get inside with water to extinguish the fire,” he said.
Do you have a view on this story? Please email Editor Inês Lopes at [email protected]
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