by Lannie Walker

Guam - The northernmost municipality of Yigo now has access to a quarter-million dollars to fight the illegal dump fire in the village. So far, the funds have only been used to relocate residents.

This illegal dump in Yigo continues to burn, and while the smoke has noticeably lessened, some residents in the area have been voluntarily evacuated. Mayor Robert Lizama says six families - a total of 40 people - were moved out of their homes to the Marriot Resort temporarily.

He met with Fire Chief Dave Peredo today, recapping, "The recommendation is to working with the Department of Public Works to operate heavy equipment to be able to work with a crane so they can sift the debris that's burning; the smoke coming from underground indication of fuel burning that why fire still happening."

Governor Felix Camacho on Friday signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency for Yigo. Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense Spokesperson Lesley Leon Guerrero says $250,000 in emergency funds are now available to remedy the situation, adding, "From what officials are saying right now the best course of action is to let the fire burn. It's very unstable to for us to try and put in any heavy equipment, and then we don't want to damage water in surrounding area by flooding fire trying to put it out."

Leon Guerrero says they are looking into hiring an industrial hygienist, saying such a specialist would be brought in to "help EPA to look for damage to soil or air we may be missing." She says whatever money is not spent of the $250,000 will be returned to the Government of Guam's General Fund.