Bryan declared state of emergency over Bovoni landfill fire

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. issued an executive order on Sept. 19, 2023, declaring a state of emergency across the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to the fire at the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas.

Government House said the fire had been burning since Sept. 14, 2023, and that smoke and poor air quality had led to school and business closures.

The order said the fire was not sustainably contained and that outside assistance was needed to extinguish flames below the surface in the landfill's green waste area, including coordination of firefighting support through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

The executive order designated Fire EMS Executive Director Daryl George as incident commander and named the Virgin Islands Fire and Emergency Medical Services as the lead agency for the response, working with the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency. Government House said the incident commander and the VITEMA director would advise the governor's office on implementation of the emergency response.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-bryan-declares-state-of-emergency-in-response-to-bovoni-landfill-fire/