AGI – Tamed thefire of substantial proportions flared up within the Bellolampo landfill, in Palermo: the seventh tank was affected, still under construction and therefore free of waste. The tarpaulins covering the plant managed by Rap, the company that takes care of environmental hygiene in the Sicilian capital, would have lit up. Several teams of firefighters and employees of the Municipality’s subsidiary company headed to the hill overlooking Palermo, operating mechanical shovels to move earth and waste from the other tanks.
The fire – whose matrix is believed to be malicious – is considered under control and firefighters are monitoring the situation and small outbreaks. Having started after 8.30pm and immediately spotted and tackled by the RAP operators, the fire however developed, thanks to a light south-east wind. Reinforcements were then called and several teams of firefighters, two provincial tankers and one large and one small civil protection vehicle went into action.
The flames along the waste embankment were contained with earth moved by Rap’s excavators and booms, as well as water from fire engines. The cloud that rose was dense and the smell of burning, says the regional civil protection, was felt as far away as Capaci. The city mayor was invited to issue a specific ordinance “to safeguard the population”. “Due to the times and methods, there is a clear tendency towards a malicious origin”, underlines the Civil Protection.
