USVI Governor Declares State Of Emergency Due To Bovoni Landfill Fire

An ongoing fire at the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) has forced Governor Albert Bryan Jr. on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency across the neighbouring territory.

The Bovoni Landfill fire has been a cause of concern since September 14, posing potential health and environmental risks across St Thomas.

“Smoke from the fire, which has been burning since September. 14, can be seen and smelled for miles and the resulting poor air quality has caused schools and businesses to close. The fire is not sustainably contained and external assistance is required to extinguish the flames below the surface of the green waste area of the Bovoni Landfill,” a September 20 government statement explained.

The declaration of a state of emergency will enable the government to access additional resources and assistance to expedite the containment and resolution of the fire.

A multi-agency emergency plan is being put in place to extinguish the fire on the USVI main island, which has just over 42,000 residents.

“The Executive Order that Governor Bryan issued designates Fire EMS Executive Director Daryl George as the incident commander to direct the territorial response and execute the directives for enforcement of the order and designates the Virgin Islands Fire and Emergency Medical Services as the lead agency to coordinate emergency response activities in conjunction with the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA).”

The statement added that “the Incident Commander and Director of VITEMA shall advise the Office of the Governor on the implementation of the emergency response activities.”

The USVI has three islands—St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas—and about 50 small islets and cays, with a  population of just over 100,000 people.

It is a popular tourism destination with millions of holidaymakers visiting the territory yearly.