An aggressive fire that broke out at the New Providence landfill on Friday is still raging and causing health concerns among area residents.

Thick plumes of white smoke have been blanketing the sky in the southwestern and western portions of New Providence for days now.

Director of Fire Services for the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), Superintendent Walter Evans told The Bahama Journal last night that fire fighters still don’t know how the fire got started.

However, he said it has been contained to the construction and demolition side.

Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) staff members have also been closely monitoring the situation.

“Resources are being used to have this fire contained and then to extinguish it. Several initiatives have been put in place. Wells and . . . heavy equipment have been used to extinguish this blaze. This is not a fire that will be extinguished within a day. But, we believe in the next few days this fire should be totally extinguished,” he said.

“Due to the degree and the depth at which it is burning I may need to get access into those areas so that we could stop whatever is burning and extinguish it swiftly.”

Right now, he said officials are trying to provide relief to affected residents in the immediate areas.

“What’s going to happen if this thing continues to burn as it is and the wind keeps shifting, because the wind keeps moving in the area of Victoria Gardens, we are going to try to do our best to ensure that if there is any degree of smoke it is very minimal,” Supt Evans said.

“We know in the past residents have had to relocate because of the smoke discomfort that they have experienced. So, that is our job, to see if we can stop that from happening so that they’ll be allowed to remain in their residence over the next few days, particularly while we extinguish this blaze.”