Due to the increased number of fires and the expected extremely high temperatures, the Ministry of Environment and Water has sent an order to the 15 regional environmental and water inspectorates (RIEWs) across the country to take emergency fire prevention measures.

It is urgent to send letters to all operators of regional waste landfills, reminding them of their obligations to prevent possible fires:

• Waste disposal should be carried out in strict compliance with regulatory requirements, as well as in accordance with the established rules and operational requirements defined in the Operation Plan, which is part of the landfill technology project;
• To strengthen the monitoring control of landfills and their adjacent territories;
• To carry out a daily working section of the landfill immediately after the completion of waste disposal;
• To ensure a sufficient amount of soil on the landfill territory;
• To carry out regular irrigation.

The RIEWs will send instructions to take fire prevention measures to all operators of installations carrying out waste activities, including storage.

The letter to the RIEWs also requires that instructions be sent to the mayors of the municipalities to carry out inspections and take action to clean up waste-contaminated areas in order to prevent fires.

The RIEWs are about to begin inspections of fire-risk sites on their adjacent territory.