The fire response at El Gavilán has moved out of the emergency phase, but Puerto Vallarta has not been given the all-clear. State environmental officials kept an atmospheric alert in place Monday for neighborhoods near the landfill while crews continued cooling hotspots and investigators reviewed how a tire-area blaze reached the main landfill cell. The downgrade marks progress, not closure, after days of smoke, school disruptions, and public health warnings in the city’s rural northeast.
Alert lowered but not lifted
Puerto Vallarta remained under an atmospheric alert on Monday after state environmental officials downgraded the response to the El Gavilán landfill fire from an emergency level.
The change reflects progress in controlling the fire, not the end of the air-quality warning. The latest atmospheric alert for El Gavilán kept restrictions in place for El Colorado, Los Ángeles, El Zancudo, Verde Valle, Colinas del Valle, Ecoterra Paraíso, La Arboleda, Las Rosas, Ojo de Agua, El Cantón, and nearby areas.
Semadet said firefighters were still cooling down detected hotspots at the landfill. Officials estimated the emergency phase could be closed in the coming days if conditions continue improving.
The downgrade follows the earlier emergency phase at El Gavilán, when smoke from burning tires spread over parts of Puerto Vallarta, and the later weekend fire-control work that reduced the most visible threat.
Fire began in tire area
Authorities said the fire started in the landfill’s tire deposit area before extending toward the main landfill cell. That movement is now part of the investigation into the cause.
Misael López Muro, Puerto Vallarta’s director of Civil Protection and Firefighters, said earlier in the response that crews had built firebreaks “to control it so it would not spread.” The same fire-control update said cooling work continued because of the amount of combustible material at the site, mainly tires.
Municipal officials later said the tire area, described as the most critical zone, had been fully extinguished. Work continued in the upper part of the landfill, where the advance remained incomplete over the weekend, according to the municipal fire status report.
No deaths or injuries had been reported. Municipal officials also said Sedena helped with a preventive evacuation of people in improvised housing inside the affected area.
Health warning remains part of the case
The strongest public warning came from health officials because the fire involved tire smoke and petroleum-derived waste.
Jaime Álvarez Zayas, director of Jalisco’s Eighth Health Region, said inhaling smoke from burning tires “affects health, mainly the respiratory system.” In the health warning for El Gavilán smoke, he described it as highly toxic because it can release petroleum compounds and heavy metals.
Álvarez said exposure can cause coughing, throat pain, breathing difficulty, eye irritation, and skin problems. He identified children, older adults, and people with existing respiratory illness as more vulnerable to the smoke.
The original emergency, activated May 28, led Jalisco education officials to suspend in-person classes and outdoor activities in affected zones. At that stage, the emergency declaration said 26 personnel were working with three fire engines, four water trucks, a backhoe, an ambulance, and three pickup trucks.
Investigation still open
The origin of the fire has not been determined.
López Muro said Saturday there was still no definitive conclusion because crews had focused first on containment and extinguishing. He also said the speed of the fire’s spread had drawn attention and would be reviewed.
Semadet’s alert asks people in affected zones to avoid outdoor activity, keep doors and windows closed, and follow official information channels. Crews remained assigned to cooling hotspots at El Gavilán while authorities reviewed how the fire moved from the tire area into the main landfill cell.
