Finally! Ramblars is closed and plans made to extinguish the fire
After more than 10 weeks of suffering, the local council has finally looked at resolving the issue that has heaped misery of local residents.
Thursday 3rd February 2022 – CARLOS LÓPEZ with Mike Smith
Xàbia Council has reported that it will temporarily close Ramblars green waste transfer plant which has been burning since last November and been covering much of the area with polluting smoke ever since.
In its statement, the local government explained that they have been following the recommendations of the provincial fire brigade “from the beginning” and now it the time to start “a new phase” in response to this ongoing incident by coordination with the fire service in Dénia to finally extinguish the fire using all the “necessary heavy machinery”.
In a statement, the local government assures that they are following “from the beginning” the recommendations of the Provincial Firefighters Consortium and announces that they are going to start “a new phase in the response to this emergency for which they are coordinating a shock device with the Dénia Fire Station”, which will also put at your disposal the “necessary heavy machinery”.
The statement added that the local council will be contracting “by way of emergency” for the removal of all the green waste – and other remains – that are still stockpiled in Ramblars to avoid further outbreaks and provide the necessary space for the extinguishing task.
In addition, the local government has confirmed that, while Ramblars remains closed, an alternative point for the controlled disposal of pruning remains will be made available to the gardeners of the municipality and this will be on the land recently acquired in the Catarroges industrial estate. which will be crushed and removed on a daily basis.
The council has announced that the local police has implemented a specific control campaign to monitor goods vehicles that access the municipality and the cleaning service contractors will strengthen surveillance of the zone verde rubbish disposal areas to prevent illegal dumping.
It is not known if this announcement is related to the complaint recently filed at Dénia court by the Ecologistas en Acción environmental pressure group which demanded the immediate closure of the Ramblars due to “the danger posed to public health”. Since the fire broke out on November 21st, dense smoke has drifted across the valley, reaching the sea at the Arenal, affecting the historic centre, and creating misery for those living in remote homes and on urbanisations in the area, as well as residents of the nearby town of Gata de Gorgos.
At the last plenary session, the PP representative Rosa Cardona called on the local government to finally do something about the situation since residents in the area have become “desperate”. Mayor José Chulvi explained that the local council had been informed by the firefighting service that the fire couldn’t be extinguished whilst councillor Kika Mata (Services) added that they were fully aware of the suffering of local residents. “If it could be easily extinguished, we would have done it. But we are working on the advice of the firefighters,” she explained, adding that the most recommended action was to allow the slow combustion and dismantle the pile little by little.
