drrich2
Contributor
It does for me.
Richard.
Richard.
Bonaire Fire
- Thread starter octopuppy
- Start date
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rjchandler
Contributor
dvrliz1
Guest
Hi All,
Ok, let me tell you what is going on as of today. The government has acted and a military plane with foam flew and dumped over the tank today. BOPEC, which is owned by Venezuela and Mr. C. only had enough foam on site to extinguish one tank. Not going to get into this, but it is under control, if not just about out. We could easily see the huge black plume of smoke yesterday from here at GRI and today nothing, just white puffy clouds. Also, I was up early this morning, before dawn (I live up on the hill) and the orange hues from the fire that I saw last night before I went to bed, were gone at 5:00 am this morning. This is ALL GOOD.
As of today, ALL dive sites north UP TO KARPATA are OPEN. ALL sites south of Karpata to the south end of the island are open as well.
If you are familiar with Bonaire, right after the Karpata dive site the road "T's and you have to go left or right. left will take you past BOPEC and the "long way" into Rincon. THIS ROAD IS CLOSED. You can, however, take a right, go the short route into Rincon and get back to town just as easily.
Washington Slaagbai National Park is also closed at this time.
Today the wonderful tradewinds are back, it is sunny, with some clouds, but with the wind reversal ending, the soot and all is not heading into land and Rincon.
I haven't heard anything further, but wanted to give you all my input.
The diving is still fine and the water has not been affected in any way.
Liz
Ok, let me tell you what is going on as of today. The government has acted and a military plane with foam flew and dumped over the tank today. BOPEC, which is owned by Venezuela and Mr. C. only had enough foam on site to extinguish one tank. Not going to get into this, but it is under control, if not just about out. We could easily see the huge black plume of smoke yesterday from here at GRI and today nothing, just white puffy clouds. Also, I was up early this morning, before dawn (I live up on the hill) and the orange hues from the fire that I saw last night before I went to bed, were gone at 5:00 am this morning. This is ALL GOOD.
As of today, ALL dive sites north UP TO KARPATA are OPEN. ALL sites south of Karpata to the south end of the island are open as well.
If you are familiar with Bonaire, right after the Karpata dive site the road "T's and you have to go left or right. left will take you past BOPEC and the "long way" into Rincon. THIS ROAD IS CLOSED. You can, however, take a right, go the short route into Rincon and get back to town just as easily.
Washington Slaagbai National Park is also closed at this time.
Today the wonderful tradewinds are back, it is sunny, with some clouds, but with the wind reversal ending, the soot and all is not heading into land and Rincon.
I haven't heard anything further, but wanted to give you all my input.
The diving is still fine and the water has not been affected in any way.
Liz
Stacyt38
Registered
Thanks for the update Liz! That is good to hear!
tarponchik
Contributor
Thanks, good to know. For a tiny second I believed that Bonaire has its own Airforce but according to news reports, these were Venezuelan military planes. What a disappointment...;-)
alashas
Contributor
So sorry to hear about this! I hope everything is under control by now. Had a great time diving on Bonaire in 07 and hope to get back again sometime.
all the best, alashas YouTube - honeymoon2's Channel
all the best, alashas YouTube - honeymoon2's Channel
dvrliz1
Guest
No real reason for disappointment. Bonaire is supported by the Dutch Coast Guard and Navy. The reason for the Venezuelan military planes is this. There is also Venezuelan military (albeit maybe 20 people) that are working with the local government on the remainder of the clean up at BOPEC. BOPEC is owned by the Venezuelans. They own and operate it. They were SUPPOSE to have enough foam and safety items available to cover all the possible safety scenarios on site.
The pressure put on them by our local government resulted in them actually putting out the fire they way they should have originally done, but we are talking about Mr. Chavez's regimen here.
Currently there is an investigation into this, as well as the enviromental impact to the island as a result of the fire, to see who, what, why, when, etc is responsible for the incident and the costs that are and will be involved to any clean up of our island.
We are aware of some environmental damage done at GOTOMEER, but once again, investigations are underway.
Will try and keep you all updated.
Liz
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