Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
Thick smoke engulfed an area of more than 200 rai in Samut Prakan when a vast landfill site caught fire recently, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more this incident.
More than 200 residents were forced to flee Samut Prakan province after a blaze that started on March 16 engulfed vast areas of a landfill, spreading toxic smoke and harmful gases.
FIERCE BLAZE
Firemen with more than 20 fire trucks rushed to the landfill site, which covered more than 100 rai in the Phraeksa area of Muang district.
It took firefighters 20 hours to bring the fire under control, but they had failed to completely extinguish it by March 18. Around 200 people from a nearby community were forced to leave their homes for safety reasons.
TEMPORARILY TOXIC
Authorities declared the area a disaster zone and provided help to local residents, Samut Prakan governor Khanit Iamrahong said.
Department of Pollution Control chief Wichien Jungrungruang said that the levels of sulphur dioxide in the air near the burning site were dangerously high, while
levels of carbon monoxide were also higher than usual. Wichien suggested that people close to the site wear masks or put a wet cloth over their faces to prevent breathing in toxic fumes.
Officials also suggested that people living within 1.5 kilometres of the landfill evacuate to safer areas until levels of sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide returned to normal.
Exercises
Read through Exercises. Then, match each of the following words used in the story with the correct definitions from the choices given.
| 1. toxic | a. extremely large in area, size, etc. |
| 2. vast | b. containing poison |
| 3. landfill | c. causing damage or injury to somebody or something |
| 4. harmful | d. an area of land where large amounts of waste material are buried under the earth |
Vocabulary
- sulphur dioxide (n): a poisonous gas with a strong smell, that is used in industry and causes air pollution
carbon monoxide (n): a poisonous gas formed when carbon burns partly but not completely
fumes (n): smoke, gas, or something similar that smells strongly or is dangerous to breathe in
