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Residents of a South Yorkshire village have been left worried for their safety after spending seven weeks engulfed by toxic smoke from an industrial blaze that fire services are struggling to put out.
People who live and work in Kiveton Park, near Rotherham, have been told to stay indoors and keep their windows closed to avoid inhaling acrid, plasticky smoke being emitted from a building storing waste that caught fire on 21 September.
Substances present in smoke can irritate the lining of the air passages, the skin and the eyes, they have been warned – a feeling they have become all too familiar with.
Fire services and the Environment Agency have managed to extinguish about two-thirds of the blaze in the large warehouse filled with what they described as “domestic type waste”, made up of plastic, paper and cardboard.
But it is proving a challenge as deep-seated pockets are constantly reigniting with the burnt plastic and paper forming a “crust” that blocks firefighting water from reaching parts that are still smouldering, the Environment Agency said.
For many people, worries about the smoke, which can still be seen rising in thick plumes from the skeleton of the building, began after a couple of weeks and the lack of progress and support is causing tensions.
Half a mile away, The Station pub has been forced to keep its doors closed and even then the smell of smoke is still quite strong, forcing the landlady, Lindsey Garner, to install air purifiers.
She said: “It’s not like a normal fire. It’s just a different smell. We think we’re sailors now because we see where the wind is going to be blowing on a weekly basis. When you’re downwind and it’s constant, you feel your eyes stinging. It does get in your eyes and your throat.”
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At a meeting on Thursday evening, she said people clashed with the UK Health Security Agency, which told them NHS data showed there had not been an increase in respiratory problems since the fire began. A worker at the local doctor’s surgery disagreed, saying she had noticed an increase of people coming into the surgery with symptoms believed to be caused or exacerbated by the smoke.
Garner praised the fire service for their hard work but said more needed to be done to put out the fire and to compensate businesses that have suffered. The Station, which has an outdoor yard and a roof terrace, would normally have double the number of customers, she said. “Nobody wants to go home and smell of smoke. It’s upsetting really.”
She has enquired about being compensated for her losses but feels she is being “passed from pillar to post”.
She said: “They say they need to find out who is accountable but by the time they find out who is accountable, I’m not going to have a business. It’s not my fault but my business is failing.”
At least one fire crew has been stationed at the building on Kiveton industrial estate since the fire began and, last week, an excavator with a longer reach was brought in to help dig in the debris to reach the smouldering parts.
The Environment Agency has installed an external air quality monitoring unit close to the site and is testing nearby watercourses on a daily basis. So far no pollutants have been detected, it said. A spokesperson said: “The incident is being dealt with via a multi-agency operation comprising the South Yorkshire fire and rescue, the Environment Agency, Rotherham metropolitan borough council, UK Health Security Agency and the police.
“This work will take some time and we ask local residents to bear with us while the work takes place.”
An investigation into potential offences at the site is under way, though it is thought the fire was started accidentally.
