Prolonged hot weather combined with recent storm Koguma - triggered rain, caused a concerning change to atmospheric pressure, leading to an increase in the amount of methane gas naturally produced by decomposing trash. It is the major cause of fire happening on Sunday at the Lien Chieu District-based Khanh Son landfill, the largest garbage dump in Da Nang.

A scene of the Sunday fire recorded at the Khanh Son landfill

The aforementioned statement was released on Monday by the municipal Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at a press briefing on the cause of the incident.

Previously, on Sunday, a thick column of grey smoke was spotted for hours at the Khanh Son landfill. After the fire broke out, fire engines, along with dozens of firefighters from the Da Nang Police Department of Fire Prevention and Fighting, rushed to the scene to douse the blaze.

The unexpected incident caused numerous challenges to the firefighters due to its scale and the availability of inflammable materials. Toxic columns of grey smoke released from the blaze also hindered the firefighting mission.

According to the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, as observed at 2:30pm on Monday, the work of overcoming consequences of the blaze and implementing heat reduction activities in the scene was still getting underway.

The recently-released observation results show that the amount of methane generated from the burial process at the landfill is now on rise, resulting in a high risk of potential fire cases in the coming time.

With regard to solutions, in addition to releasing guidance on handling the incident, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment has proposed the upgrade of a number of facilities at the Khanh Son landfill, with a focus placed on speeding up the installation of a gas collection system at the landfill.

Another must-fulfill task is to promote on-site fire prevention and fighting in compliance with regulations.

Besides, functional agencies should support the change of occupations of individuals who collect scrap metal at this landfill in a bid to put an end to this activity as soon as the landfill is placed under the new operational process.

Reporting by HOANG HIEP – Translating by A.T