Fire at Doral waste management plant continues to smolder over 24 hours after it started
MIAMI -- A fire that broke out Sunday afternoon at a renewable energy facility owned by Miami-Dade County continued to burn Monday, more than 24 hours after it started, authorities said.
During a news conference, county officials said the Covanta Energy plant, located at 6990 NW 97th Ave., handles about 40 percent of garbage from throughout Miami-Dade.
The county's director of solid waste management said the fire at the plant will not hinder trash collection for resdients.
"Continue to put your garbage out by 7 o'clock (and) routes will continue to pick up as normal," the director said.
Although the thick black plumes of smoke that darkened the skies over the area have somewhat subsided, fears about health concerns persist among some residents.
"All (the) tests we've conducted have come back clear," Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. "There is no dangerous presence in the smoke"
Doral City Councilwoman Maureen Porras said she visited the site Monday and urged residents who have to be in the area to take precautions.
"I would suggest for residents to stay away from the area," she said. "And if they have to be there, I would say wear a mask."
Over 76,000 residents of Doral have been affected by the blaze, which firefighters were still working to contain Monday afternoon.
Authorities said four of 11 buildings at the Covanta site have been burned by the flames with two of them still on fire Monday.
"Currently, we have 150 firefighters with 40 units from Fire & Rescue working the scene," said Miami-Dade Fire Chief Ray Jadallah, who said the fire has compromised the building infrastructure. "One building has two walls that are starting to cave in, preventing us from accessing the building. The second building we have no access to (with) fire trucks or hose lines as a result of the warping metal."
For the last several years, neighbors around the existing incinerator and city leaders had indicated they were opposed to keeping the trash processing operation in the same location.
The site, which burns more than 800,000 tons of garbage every year, turned 40 in 2022 and was due for a replacement.
However, the Miami-Dade County Commission passed a request by Levine Cava to locate it somewhere else but commissioners voted to leave the plant in its current location.
County Commissioner J.C. Bermudez was mayor when that vote occurred.
"We've seen with this incident why we should consider other sites," he said. "To have even a new plant in the middle that's close to many residents may not be the wisest decision."