More people saying landfill fire making them sick

By Lisa Crane

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    TRUSSVILLE, Alabama (WVTM) — A landfill fire in St. Clair County has been burning now for almost 2 months, and residents in the smoke’s path say enough is enough. Many have grown angry and desperate and say they want something done.

Trussville is a rapidly growing area, but many of those residents say they’re not sure how much longer they’ll be able to stay because of that fire burning just a few miles that way.

“We’re sick, I feel sick, I have a doctor’s appointment after this, my son has been sick, he experienced a seizure this past week. We feel that it was because we’ve been exposed to so much. We don’t understand what’s taking so long to do anything,” Krissy Harmon said.

Harmon says the landfill fire not only made her sick, and she’s emotionally spent as well. She worries about her family’s health. Even with seven air purifiers and two air scrubbers in their home, they’re still feeling the effects of the fire burning for almost two months.

A few miles away, Kevin Baylor usually enjoys spending time outdoors with his dog, but lately, that’s become almost impossible because he and his family are also sick.

“It’s not like someone having a barbeque or burning in their backyard wood, you can just smell the nasty, who knows what’s all buried down below,” Baylor said.

St. Clair County leaders say they can’t move forward without permission from the Governor. Dr. Tim Coleman, who lives about 5 miles from the fire, says his frustration over how long that’s taking has turned to outrage.

“This is an emergency, a health emergency. I feel like the whole eastern side of Birmingham is becoming Chernobyl and all we need is permission from Governor Ivey to move forward, and she doesn’t care enough to give it to us?” Coleman said.

While local and state leaders try to figure out who has jurisdiction, residents say they’re the ones suffering.

Harmon is pleading for help, “Help us please, somebody do something.”

A representative from the Governor’s office said Tuesday night that, to her knowledge, the governor hasn’t received any requests from St. Clair County officials.

We’ll continue to push for answers on who is responsible for protecting residents.

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