Toxic fumes from a landfill fire has Cypress County in a local state of emergency.
The flames broke out Monday night, and by Wednesday deteriorating conditions forced emergency officials to issue a mandatory evacuation order for nine area homes.
Emergency crews have been working around the clock just East of Medicine Hat to keep the Westar Landfill fire under control.
The county says there is still no viable way to extinguish it and the cause of the fire is still unknown.
Officials say the concern now is what materials are burning, as the site is used for old construction materials like asphalt shingles, plastic insulation and siding. Alberta Health Services has issues an air quality warning, saying the smoke is toxic and poses a serious life safety hazard.
“Biggest thing is there’s a plume of smoke coming from the fire with very particulate matter which can get into your lungs,” said Cypress County Assistant Manager Doug Henderson.
“If you breathe enough of it, it could cause long term health impacts.”
A number of homes remain under a voluntary evacuation notice, which will remain in effect until the state of local emergency has been lifted.
“We were actually put on alert two days ago, and were called to respond last night to some of the people who were evacuated from the smoke,” said Matt Sawatsky, Disaster Management Coordinator for the Red Cross. “What we’ve done so far here is put 18 people up in accommodations for the next 72 hours.”
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The county says its fire crews have backed off, and officials are working to determine the best way to completely extinguish the fire.
“At the moment we’ve pulled back all our firefighting resources and were taking a look and see attitude,” said Henderson.
“We’ve brought in some experts to help us figure out a better way to attack this fire. Because of the depth of the garbage in this hole, it’s going to take a little bit of expert advice to figure out how to get in there.”
Alberta Environment officials and AHS are working with the county, and will continue to monitor the landfill, as well as the wind during the state of emergency.
Cypress County says they anticipate the state of emergency to be a prolonged event, and are asking people to avoid the area, and respect road blocks near the landfill site.
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