KINGSTON, Jamaica — A section of the May Pen Cemetery in St Andrew was engulfed in flames on Wednesday, as firefighting teams worked tirelessly to control the blaze.

The cause of the fire remains unclear, but surrounding communities are being affected by smoke, which has spread across the area.

Robert Hill, chief executive officer of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, explained that the fire is concentrated in a small area of the cemetery and does not pose an immediate threat to nearby facilities, such as Tivoli High School or the Horizon Remand Centre.

“It seems to be a fire that emerged suddenly on the cemetery grounds and so we are here to assess the issue. We have called the fire brigade, luckily the Trench Town fire brigade station is literally just across the road and they have sent a unit with some firefighters and they have left to return. The fire seems to be in the centre of the front part of the cemetery, and it is not endangering any lives or other property at this time,” Hill said.

“We have the Tivoli High School, which is to the west of the cemetery, as well as the Horizon Remand Centre to the east of the cemetery. It is not now affecting any of those facilities at the moment. And the fire brigade, I can hear it in the background, is on its way back to now deal with the fire itself by putting it out and ensuring that the grounds remain safe,” he continued.

However, Delon Gayle, president of the Denham Town Community Development Centre, shared that the smoke from the cemetery is indeed impacting surrounding communities.

“Well, yes, it’s affecting the residents at the moment because there’s smoke, as you can see, smoke in the air. So it’s affecting the surrounding community like at Denham Town, at Tivoli, where the cemetery is based… even the motorists, the public, the motorist public that is travelling along the territory right now. But the fire brigade is working overtime to try to put the blaze under control,” he said.

John Cornwall, Superintendent of Cemeteries at the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, is of the opinion that the fire may have been caused by someone of unsound mind.

“I was here in the office and I only saw smoke start to come up. And it may be caused through persons that we have here who’s living on the compound, who are of unsound mind. You have persons who pass through the cemetery who are smokers. They may be smoking and drop a fire butt, a cigarette butt. And so that would have, that would have caused the fire that we have here,” he said.

Cornwall noted that burials for the day would not be impacted by the fire. He, however, mentioned that if the fire continues, burials for Sunday may be affected.

“No, it’s not going to disrupt any funeral today. For Sunday, only if it continues. But if the fire continues, yes, it will,” he said.

Hill expressed confidence in the Jamaica Fire Brigade’s ability to contain the fire.