A number of residents and businesses have been in touch over the past several days, and the Chief Executive yesterday brought the concerns they highlighted to me to the Strategic Command Group meeting, and the “warning, informing cell” to ensure that consistent messages are being received by local residents and businesses. I’m pleased that the City Council and Fire and Rescue Service have been posting regular updates on their social media channels about the fire and their work at the site.

Given that the materials stored in the warehouse are piled high, and are in essence items thrown in skips over a number of years, I would guess that much of what is in there is unknown from either an environmental or risk perspective (ie combustible materials), on top of any asbestos concerns at the building itself.

With that in mind, last week I asked the Chief Executive to task the council’s Environmental Health Team/Environment Agency to assess the air quality in order to be able to provide some clarity on the safety of the area which could be passed on to residents and business owners, as well as for agencies who are attending the scene, such as Lancashire Police.

Although I have not heard from the council yet on the outcome, it does appear that this is being actioned behind the scenes, as I have been updated by some local businesses on the industrial site to say that the council are now conducting air pollution reports, which I hope can be shared soon with all people affected – including local residents.

Lancaster City Council and I have been asking for a meeting with a Government Minister on the situation for months now, to push for the necessary and emergency funds to tackle the clean-up and associated costs.

It is a fast moving situation, and I am trying to get as much information as possible to reassure people in the area, but in the meantime I hope that this is helpful.

The advice to to keep checking the city council’s social media feeds for announcements. As an update however, I have recently received the following response from the Public Health officials at Lancaster City Council, along with the FAQs document below relating to health and welfare of people in the local area, including of children:

“I completely sympathise with the situation that you and many other residents living near to the former Supaskips site find themselves in. I have attended site and the effects of the smoke plume are very unpleasant. There has been a truly multi-agency response to the incident involving both local and national agencies including Lancashire Fire & Rescue, Lancashire Constabulary, the City Council, the County Council, the Environment Agency, UKHSA, United Utilities, Electricity North West, Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care Board and the Met Office.

As things stand, the health advice is as follows – if your property is being affected by smoke then you should shelter, i.e. keep doors and windows closed and avoid going outside. If you have an underlying respiratory condition then you should also keep any preventative medication to hand and avoid physical exertion. If you have concerns about yours or anybody’s health then you should contact your GP or 111.

When the wind direction moves the plume away from your home then you should take that opportunity to ventilate your property.

For information, the monitoring that has been put in place, supplemented by Environment Agency mobile monitoring, has been deployed in consultation with the UK Health Security Agency and the Environment Agency’s National Air Quality Technical Directors. Dispersion modelling is being provided by the Met Office’s Chemical Meteorology (CHEMET) service.

As I am sure you will appreciate, the situation is changing on a daily basis, so please keep an eye on the Council’s website and social media channels.

Please see the current FAQs for further information below.”

You may also be aware that the mobile phone company O2 have some vandalised masts on the chimney tower of the building which has resulted in very poor signal in the area. I challenged O2 in October to find a new place for masts, as it was increasingly clear that they would not be able to fix the masts at the current site due to the ongoing legal and safety challenges.

I supported over 100 residents who were customers of O2 to make complaints to the company and seek compensation, and I’m pleased that this has had some positive results. But we need a long term fix to the very poor mobile signal in the area, along with tackling the actual environmental hazard at the site.

Now, my worst fears have been realised, in that following the huge fire at the site, it is now almost a certainty that the O2 mast will now not be fixed.

I didn’t even get a reply to my last letter in October, despite following this up in November before the fire. But given the impact the blaze has had on the site, I have written once again to O2 last Friday to demand that they seek new masts in the area, and you can read my letter here: https://www.catsmith.co.uk/latest/2023/12/08/cat-tells-o2-get-new-masts-now/.