The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has offered a press conference this Tuesday morning to announce that the fire at the Zonzamas landfill is already under control.
"Behind an incident there is a responsibility and the relevant investigation file and the corresponding sanctioning file will be initiated against the concessionaire company", the president highlighted in response to questions from journalists.
The fire, which occurred this past Monday at 7:15 p.m., was "caused by the activity of classifying stubble or scattered material", according to Betancort.
The flames initially started "in a very controlled place, at a point on the descent from the boiler to the left." However, he highlighted that, due to the strong wind, the ashes were moved 350 meters towards the boiler. The wind moved the fire "towards the part of the landfill where highly flammable material is stored."
Upon arrival, firefighters from the Lanzarote Security and Emergency Consortium began to demarcate the areas, protecting the most flammable spaces, such as gas spaces and diesel boilers.
"They achieved a miracle, practically all the fire was covering the fuel boiler and the gas boiler and the miracle they have achieved is that these two infrastructures have been saved", assured Betancort, who during the press conference was accompanied by the Minister of Water and Transport, Domingo Cejas; the vice president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Jacobo Medina; and the Minister of Universities, Science, Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín.
During the appearance before the media, he highlighted that 200,000 liters of water have been thrown to try to extinguish the flames in Zonzamas and that it alternated with sand. This joint work between volunteers, firefighters and transporters led to the outbreak being brought under control from 1:35 a.m.
"From that time on, we provide continuous attention and at this moment we are with all the professionals attending to the surface, but inside we have to continue pouring sand because it is the only way to put out this fire", he pointed out.
Oswaldo Betancort has announced that work is also being done on a report to analyze the damage that has occurred at the landfill. In addition, he indicated that, despite the fire, the integral waste collection cycle is maintained and "the legal parameters have not been exceeded" in terms of air quality.
In addition, some shovels and a medium voltage cable were affected in the fire. Added to this is that "the recycling chain is practically destroyed and also the storage warehouse for these recycling materials."
During his speech, he thanked the transporters of Lanzarote for appearing with their vehicles at the Zonzamas landfill to help extinguish the flames. "It was spectacular to see the entire business community of the transport world of Lanzarote putting their logistics at the disposal of this fire", expressed the island's president.
Betancort thanked the professionals and volunteers who acted at the foot of the fire and the entire technical team. Among them, he thanked Emerlan, Aena Firefighters, Civil Protection of Yaiza, Boluntis, personnel from the Teguise and Tías City Councils, and the firefighters of the Emergency Consortium.
