Major fire hits Fujairah trash dumping site

Fujairah: A huge fire broke out Friday night at a Kalba municipality rubbish dumping site sending clouds of smoke hundreds of metres into the air.

Civil defence authorities said the fire was contained after four hours and the cooling process of the site is continuing. The site contains household waste as well as small-scale industrial junk and has previously witnessed outbreaks of fires, though not on Friday's scale, officials say.

The fire covered a 400 square-metre area and led to the diversion of traffic in and out of the area of Uowhala, near the UAE/Oman border.

Captain Ali Rashid Al Naqbi, of the Kalba Civil Defence said assistance was sought from both Khor Fakkan and Fujairah Civil Defence authorities, as well as Kalba Municipality workers, to control the fire.

A Kalba Municipality official said plans will be drawn up to find a more suitable method of disposing off inflammable material.