A fire that started nearly a week ago from an incinerator at a waste-to-energy facility in Doral, Florida continues to rage. Nearby schools let out early on Friday, and all public events were rescheduled, reported the Miami Herald.
Miami-Dade urged residents in a large area of the city north of the incinerating facility to shelter in place, run their air conditioners, and keep their car windows raised if they had to drive through the affected area. This followed a report from the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, which stated that the smoke from the fire had hit an unhealthy level.
Doral smoke from trash fire hit ‘unhealthy’ levels, according to EPA monitoring report https://t.co/ugoBN4P00q
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) February 17, 2023
NBC6 reported on February 12 that the fire started around 2 PM at the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility. The facility, operated by Covanta, processes more than a million tons of waste per year. Covanta is a New Jersey-based industrial waste management company that operates power plants that use garbage for fuel.
At the time of the station’s reporting—four hours after the fire began—more than 50 fire units were on the scene “conducting a defensive attack” to get the fire under control.
The growing smoke in the area owes to firefighters’ demolishing the facility’s east wall to better gain access to the blaze.
“As a result of the suspension of the fire operations, coupled with the overcast weather and the heavy machinery that was removing the east wall and pumping and removing some of the trash that’s on fire, we did have an increase in smoke production,” explained Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Ray Jadallah.
BREAKING: Huge fire erupts in Doral, Florida at a renewable energy plant, expected to burn for another few days.
— Antonio Sabato Jr (@AntonioSabatoJr) February 17, 2023
The EPA has been on-site monitoring air and water quality, and more than 100 firefighters have been on the scene non-stop since last February 12.
Jadallah said that they wouldn’t know how long the operation will last until the remainder of the walls and the apparatuses are removed.”
