BRIEFS. metro

Mayor says cause of toxic fire was arson

LA PRENSA/Víctor Arosemena

dangerous:Panama City was inundated for five days with smoke from a landfill fire in Cerro Patacón.1021727

Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro continues to insist that the fire in the Cerro Patacón landfill that blanketed the city with toxic smoke for days was started by arson.

Navarro said that his office has received information that led to him state that the fire was deliberately set. That information apparently came from employees at the landfill. His office declined to share that information with the press.

Fire officials, however, said that determining the cause of the fire will be almost impossible. Juan De Arco, an investigator with the Cuerpo de Bomberos de Panama, said the conditions were ideal at the landfill for the fire to be caused by spontaneous combustion. That happens when heat given off by deteriorating organic matter causes combustable materials to ignite.

The fire erupted last Wednesday and burned out of control for several days before being extinguished Monday. The toxic smoke made 19 firefighters sick.

Firefighters had to fight the blaze without artificial breathing aparatus until Monday, when those items were provided by the Autoridad del Canal de Panama.

Antonio Dutary, a chemist with the Universidad de Panama, said the smoke was dangerous because of the material consumed by the fire, including batteries and other items containing dangerous chemicals.