INTERVIEW: Resident tells of "thick acrid choking smoke" causing misery after Lancaster industrial estate fire

A resident has told how people have been having breathing difficulties as "thick, acrid, choking" fumes continue to come from an industrial estate fire in Lancaster.

Amy Stanning, who lives a quarter of a mile from the Lune Industrial Estate, said residents have had an "awful" time since the fire began at the former A1 Supa Skips site almost two weeks ago.

Amy said the ongoing smelly fumes have stunk out homes, been getting onto clothes and pets, and are causing health problems for many who live near the Port Royal Avenue site.

And there are huge worries among residents about what exactly they are breathing in from the smoke, which was generated by a fire on December 3 involving 13,000 tonnes of commercial waste.

LISTEN to our interview with Amy Stanning

"It's been pretty awful," said Amy.

"There have been days when it has been thick, acrid, it makes your eyes run, it feels sticky, choking. It's getting inside houses. My lounge at home faces it, and gets the wind, and the whole room fills with a horrible smoke-like smell.

"You can't get away from it. Even when I come to work, I can smell it on my clothes. It's all over me.

"People are having to wash their pets after they take them out for a walk because they are covered in a residue. It's very unpleasant.

"The smoke plume just sits on the estate and doesn't go anywhere.

"There's said to be 13,000 tonnes of material on the site. We don't know what's in it. People are very worried that it's toxic materials.

"Particularly with Christmas coming up, people will be at home a lot more, and will be exposed to this horrible smoke a lot more.

"There's a lot of information available. But residents want a definitive idea of how long it's going to last, and what is it we're breathing? Is it potentially dangerous to our health?

"If it becomes necessary to relocate people from their homes, what would trigger such a plan? There are a huge number of questions that we've got.

"We've asked the council for a public meeting.

"People are reporting they're feeling unwell, breathing difficulties and streaming eyes. More than half of residents say they've felt more unwell since the fire started."

Residents have been told if they are experiencing health effects that they think may be related to the smoke, please seek medical advice by calling NHS 111 or by contacting your GP. If you have an existing health condition, discuss your concerns and symptoms with a GP. In case of an emergency, call 999.

Lancaster City Council has also been carrying out air pollution checks in the area.

Richard Walsh, public health and protection manager for Lancaster City Council, said: “One of the main concerns that has been raised since the fire started at the Supa Skips site over a week ago is how air quality is being monitored and the effects of the smoke on local residents. 

“Lancaster has a number of air quality monitoring sites in the city centre and the data from these informed the initial air quality assessment immediately after the fire began. 

“These are now being supplemented by additional air quality monitors nearer to the scene to provide more robust and localised data. We are also looking at installing additional monitors to support this work. 

“These sites are being monitored by the city council in conjunction with the multi-agency coordination group that has been established to manage the incident. 

“The raw data from the monitors provides us with useful information but by itself does not provide the full picture and other factors also need to be taken into consideration, such as wind direction and wind speed.

“Taken together this then provides us with the information needed to determine whether additional action needs to be taken over and above the current advice.

“This advice includes that if the plume is passing your home then you should keep windows and doors closed, keep any respiratory medication to hand, avoid going outdoors, minimise physical exertion and contact medical services if you are feeling unwell.

“It is also important that when circumstances allow, such as when the plume is not affecting you, you should ventilate your property to replace contaminated air with fresher air.

“Should this advice need to change, based on the monitoring data and the other factors, contingency plans have been developed to support residents and these will be communicated should they become necessary.”

Meanwhile Lancaster City Council has agreed to fund further emergency works of up to £650,000 to bring the ongoing incident to a swift conclusion, amid worries that the fire and site clean-up could last months.

Efforts to fight the blaze to date have been impeded by the large amounts of waste inside the building, which is providing fuel for the fire to continue burning.

The council which has already contributed £262,000 to demolish outbuildings to allow firefighters greater access, has now agreed to fund further works to remove the bulk of the waste inside the main building.

Up to £650,000 in funding is being made available from the council’s reserves while contributions continue to be sought from partners and the Government to offset the cost to the council.

The council said without funding to support clearance of the waste, Lancashire Fire and Rescue will revert to a defensive approach which will mean the blaze could last for months and the risk of further fires will remain.

They said the longer the fire continues the greater the risk to residents and the additional funding from the council will now bring the fire to bring it to a swift conclusion.

Councillor Phillip Black, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “Although the city council does not have any direct responsibility for this privately owned site we need a swift resolution for the sake of residents, businesses and to protect the environment.

“Rather than wait any longer for a decision over who is responsible and on possible funding, the council is stepping up to the plate to get the job done now.

“By removing all of the waste we’ll deprive the fire of fuel and bring it to an end in time for Christmas, which is good news for those residents and businesses who have had to put up with the smoke plume.

“However, that doesn’t mean that we are willing to bear the financial burden alone so we’ll continue to seek contributions from Government and the other agencies involved as otherwise this will leave a huge dent in our already stretched finances.

“We also have the longer-term problem of what to do with the buildings that the waste has been stored in. They were already in a poor state of repair and the fire has just made the situation worse, and this is something for which we will continue to press for action.”

On Wednesday, Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster, asked Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for urgent government financial support to help tackle the incident and clear the site.

A meeting took place yesterday involving Ms Smith, Councillor Black, Mark Davies, Lancaster City Council chief executive, and government Levelling Up minister Simon Hoare, to discuss the issue.

Lancaster City Council has set up a web page with answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the fire HERE.

In Lancashire Fire and Rescue's latest update on Friday, they said: "Our firefighting operations are continuing today in conjunction with the demolition work and removal of waste from the site.

"The demolition of the outbuildings is complete, and the contractors have begun to remove waste from the main building where the fire is burning. This work will disturb the fire which will cause the smoke plume to fluctuate more than it has done recently but our firefighters will be doing all they can to limit the disruption to the local community. However, this work will enable us to extinguish the fire quicker.

"Our priority is the safety of you, the local residents and businesses. We are working with the Environment Agency to protect residents from the smoke plume and protect the surrounding areas from the water run-off.

"We are continuing to advise people to keep out of the smoke plume and keep their windows and doors closed if they can smell smoke.

"If you can no longer see any smoke outside, consider ventilating your home with fresh air, take the opportunity to open your windows and doors, but remember to close them again if the smoke returns.

"For your own safety, please stay away from the incident ground as there are vehicles moving around the site taking part in the demolition and extinguishing the fire.

"We thank the public, partner agencies and demolition contractors for their support during this incident."

There have been calls for action at the former skip hire site, due to concerns over the state of the building, premises and waste, for several months.

A1 Supa Skips went into adminstration in 2022 and also had their site permit removed by the Environment Agency.

A major incident was declared earlier this year following other fires at the site, and a multi-agency task force the Lancashire Resilience Forum, including the Environment Agency, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster City Council, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and Lancashire Police, was set up.

FOR ALL THE BACKGROUND TO THIS STORY

Lancaster MP calls on PM for urgent help after Lancaster industrial estate fire "environmental disaster" - Beyond Radio

Air pollution checks under way after massive waste fire at Lancaster industrial estate - Beyond Radio

Health advice issued as crews continue to tackle Lancaster industrial estate fire one week on - Beyond Radio

Lancaster primary school keeps pupils indoors as impact of industrial estate fire continues - Beyond Radio

Council to pay up to £262,000 in demolition costs at fire-ravaged former Lancaster skip hire site - Beyond Radio

Lancaster MP calls for urgent action on skip hire site after 'major incident' declared - Beyond Radio