Overview
- Hotspots at the El Pantanillo treatment plant remain but have shrunk in scope, and multi-agency crews with support from Aguas de Catamarca continue round-the-clock suppression.
- Dense smoke has affected neighborhoods across the Valle Central since midweek, prompting ongoing health guidance to keep windows closed and limit outdoor activity.
- Breakdowns of a bulldozer and loaders hampered the key tactic of covering burning waste with earth, forcing the use of cisterns and temporary dumping areas to keep collection going.
- Cooperative leaders say more than 300 people depend on recovered cardboard and plastic, reject arson claims, and cite extreme heat, drought and hazardous items in mixed waste as ignition risks.
- Separate blazes were contained at a recycling facility in Parque Industrial Sur, where a shed collapsed without injuries, and in Las Heras, where multiple homes and vehicles burned and several people were treated for smoke inhalation.