Fears that Pili dump fire exposes homes to toxic fumes and residue [1]
Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 16:34. Updated on Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 10:06.
Firefighters battled to contain a fire that raged out of control at a Pili quarry vehicle dump yesterday, while fears were raised that the toxic smoke from burning tyres, plastics and fuel was fouling rooftops and contaminating Nuku'alofa water tanks.
By mid-morning Nuku'alofa's fire chief had told the local town officer to advise residents to evacuate the area "if they were not happy with the fumes".
But many people remained unaware of the health hazard as the blaze consumed hundreds of wrecked vehicles and discarded fuel tanks, billowing clouds of dense smoke high into the air over the town. It was out of control for a six hour period while firefighters hauled continuous tanker loads of water to stop the fire spreading to the residential area surrounding the quarry, which is located about a kilometre from central Nuku'alofa.
Chief Fire Officer Lofia Heimuli said the fire was reported at 6:48 am and by 11:30am although the fire was slowly decreasing they expected it would take another three to four hours to burn itself out.
"Of course, we should have a fire fighting powder to use but we don't have a lot. There are more than a hundred vehicles burning," he said yesterday morning. "We do not have enough of the stuff to put the fire out with, so the best we could do was to spray it with a great amount of water."
The Nuku'alofa fire service has only two water tankers. One had to remain on standby for house fires, while the other was attending the blaze at Pili. Lofia said the tanker took 20-30 minutes to fill and by mid-morning they had dumped six tanker-loads on the fire.
Danger
"The smoke and the heat can cause danger to life," said Lofia, but he did not want to comment on the health hazards caused by the toxic fumes and residue.
"We contacted the area's town officer, Tevita Manufasi, and told him to advise people to evacuate the area if they did not feel good about the fumes," he said. But he did not know if anyone had left the area.
The fire was believed to have been started maliciously and an investigation would determine the cause, he said.
Health hazard
Meanwhile, the health hazard caught government ministries unprepared and indifferent on how to deal with the situation, even though it is not the first time that the dump has caught fire.
When Matangi Tonga Online contacted 'Ofa Tu'ikolovatu from GIO Recycling, the owner of the wrecks, she was very worried about the environmental impact of the fire, because what went up in flames was the upholstery, tires, plastic, fuel and all the flammable parts of the vehicles.
"Particularly the toxic gas that is going into people's homes and the toxic residue that falls on the roofs of their houses. The next rain that will fall will take it into their water tanks, and I hate to think!" said 'Ofa who had contacted the Ministry of Environment and informed them of her concern.
Children
The dump of wrecked vehicles, discarded petrol tanks and other metallic waste is a property of GIO Recycling, a company that buys metallic waste for export. But the dump attracts young scavengers.
'Ofa said that GIO had been stacking wrecked vehicles, fuel tanks and other metallic waste at the site during the past four years and fire had broke out on the site three times before. She said that the problem was because the security officers on the site were too lenient with children who are going into the dump and taking copper wires from vehicles. They burn off the plastic sheaths from the copper wires so that they could sell it.
"These are kids ranging in age from seven to 14. When the security catches them for stealing the copper wires he just simply gives them a smack on the head and tells them not to do it again but, of course, they keep burning up the vehicles looking for the copper wires, which they can sell," said 'Ofa.
Copper wires
'Ofa said there are only two people in Nuku'alofa who are buying the copper wires, GIO Recycling and a Chinese Fale Koloa.
"We don't buy copper wires from children. When they come to us we chase them away, so they must be selling them to the other buyer," she said.
'Ofa said that the loss of the wrecked vehicles was not her immediate concern, because all that was left was the metal.
Matangi Tonga Online also contacted the Ministry of Environment, their Waste, Chemicals and Pollution Division. Unfortunately, the director of SPREP was in town and the people concerned were engaged in a workshop, but we were given another name in the office, and told 'or better still, contact Public Health at the Ministry of Health'.
Public Health
But at the Public Health Department, the doctor concerned and his deputy were both overseas and Matangi Tonga Online was told that they would not return until next week. The girl who answered the phone did not know anything about toxic waste and was not interested in the potential hazard of burning wrecked vehicles.
Back to the Ministry of Environment, we finally got hold of a man who was sent to the site, presumably after 'Ofa made her complaint, and he said that the police were looking for those who started the fire, "and we want to get them to come and clean up the mess," he said.
Minolu Nishi, the owner of Pili Quarry said that after he took over the quarry from the Tonga Co-operative Federation about three years ago, he informed GIO to move some of their wreckages from his property. They had moved some, though there were still a lot there.
Minolu said that the problem was because the fuel and oil from the vehicles was not drained out before they were dumped on the site.