Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — After nearly a month of burning, an intentionally set garbage fire is finally out. After repeated failed attempts at water extinguishing, the stubborn smokey fire was finally put out using bulldozers to remove the pile.
According to Gustavo Castorena, the head of CADU real estate operations, the fire was declared officially out Saturday. He reported it was finally extinguished after 24/7 shifts using dump trucks were made to remove the pile of debris.
He said a total of 250 truck loads of burning material was removed from the site in order to put out what was burning and prevent another flare up. The material was moved to another area of the same land where it was soaked.
The fire was started in early August by the real estate company who tried to burn a pile of unwanted debris. The fire generated smoke so thick, neighborhoods suffered reduced visibility and residents, health problems.
A total of 80 people filed a complaint against the real estate company for health issues related to their intentionally set fire. The company was eventually fined nearly 1.5 million pesos by the Municipality of Solidaridad (which according to Castorena, they are fighting) and agreed to pay the medical expenses of the 80 claims of respiratory problems.
