Chile's capital of Santiago was engulfed by smoke and the smell of garbage fire last Tuesday, Jan. 19.

Citizens of the city complained about the unbearable smell, which came from the burning garbage dump site located just outside the city.

As reported by Latino Fox News, the fire actually broke out last Jan. 18, Monday at the Santa Marta Dump, but continued until Tuesday. The garbage dump is located just 19 miles southwest of the city.

As of press time, the fire only affects a portion of the dump, but the breeze carried its emissions across the city of Santiago, according to EFE.

The authorities added that the fire was caused by an "unusual heat wave" that affected the country's capital. According to the report, Santiago experienced its temperature rise up from 68 degrees Fahrenheit to a drastic 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

As a preventive measure, the management of the garbage dump will halt operations and will stop receiving more trash until the fire is completely under control.

Unfortunately, it does not help that decomposing garbage that is stored in the landfill is the type that releases gas emissions. Therefore, it cannot be extinguished simply by water. Firefighters said that the best thing to do with this type of fire is to bury it with dirt.

Citizens are now starting to complain as the smell in some areas has become unbearable, but according to experts, they assured that the garbage emissions are non-fatal and are only harmful for people suffering from asthma or any other respiratory disease.

However, this is not the first time that Santiago City was riddled by extreme smoke. Exactly two years ago, a fire that came from nearby forest has engulfed Chile's capital, which made the authorities to implement a health alert.

The Guardian reported that the fire has caused more than $100 million in damages, which forced millions and millions of residents to inhale bad air.

Then President Sebastian Piñera decided to announce a health alert for the four regions affected by the forest fire. He said that more than 70 forest fires that happened weeks before the announcement have affected more than 40,000 hectares of land.

Chile's health minister handled the situation, and gave the citizens extra masks and oxygen tasks to protect them from the effect of the fires.

Back in 2014, the air quality in Santiago was so bad that the deputy health secretary warned citizens to refrain from exercising outdoors. With the warning, exercising residents of Santiago went home as they witnessed the smoke cloud going nearer.