NSWMA crews fight blaze at Retirement disposal site in St. James

Firefighters and waste management teams are still working to bring a blaze under control at the Retirement Disposal Site in St. James, as the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) moves to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

Under intense heat and gusty winds, crews have struggled to fully contain flames that spread across compacted waste along roughly 100 metres of the tipping area. Workers have used soil and other cover material to smother the fire and stop it from advancing further.

NSWMA Executive Director Audley Gordon said the agency is closely monitoring the situation and that personnel on the ground have reported steady gains since morning. "Based on what I've seen and the report that they have given to me, we are making very good progress and we're probably about 60 to 70% in terms of progress since morning," he said. "We intend to wrap this up in terms of the fire by deep into the night. We have cut the smoke down significantly by about 60%."

Authorities believe the fire started when waste delivered by a collection truck on Wednesday ignited at the site. An alarm was raised quickly, prompting an immediate response from on-site staff using available equipment, including a newly commissioned water truck. Even with that early intervention, strong winds and high temperatures have made full containment difficult.

Gordon said normal operations could resume the next day if conditions hold. "If the wind allows, we should be able to return to normalcy by sometime tomorrow, early midday-ish to mid-afternoon tomorrow," he said.

The Retirement Disposal Site has a long record of fire incidents. Data show multiple blazes at the facility in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2013, a major fire burned sections containing household waste and tyres for days, sending thick smoke into nearby communities. In 2017, Retirement was among several disposal sites caught in a wave of fires across the island within just a few months. Despite mitigation efforts over the years, the risk of fire at the site has remained.