Navotas City Mayor John Ray Tiangco said Monday that a massive fire at the Navotas Sanitary Landfill Facility could have been avoided had the site’s operator completed a mandatory closure program.

The landfill, a 44-hectare site, ceased operations in August 2025 after its contract expired. According to Tiangco, the operator was directed to secure the site, but the company exited before finishing the process, leaving behind large volumes of exposed, combustible waste.

“It was left just like that,” Tiangco said in a radio interview. “There is a proper way to ensure safety. During the summer, the heat is extreme. With so much plastic, rubbish fires will occur. If the closure had been done properly, this might not have happened.”

To recall, the fire broke out at 7:56 p.m. Friday and raged through Saturday. While the Bureau of Fire Protection placed the blaze under control Sunday morning, a “fire out” has not yet been declared. Deep-seated smoldering continues to release hazardous smoke into the atmosphere.

To combat the underground combustion, the Philippine Air Force conducted aerial water drops while ground crews used vessels to transport sand and heavy equipment to the island-like site. Responders are covering the waste with sand to cut off the oxygen supply feeding the fire.

The smoke has triggered health concerns across the region. Navotas officials conducted forced evacuations for residents nearest the site, while a foul odor reached as far as Obando, Bulacan.