Fire crews are ‘likely to be on the scene for days’ following a major incident at a Lancaster industrial estate.
Emergency services were called just after 5:30am today (Sunday, December 3), to a commercial building fire on Port Royal Avenue, involving a large building containing commercial waste.
An eye-witness told Beyond Radio they saw smoke coming from the former A1 Supa Skips/power station site on the Lune Industrial Estate.
Read more: VIDEOS and PHOTOS: Ten fire engines called to blaze on Lancaster industrial estate
A large smoke plume remains visible from the site and firefighters are using specialist equipment such as aerial ladder platforms, a stinger and hazardous materials unit to bring the fire under control.
People in the local area are advised to keep out of the smoke plume and keep windows and doors shut if they can see or smell smoke.
No injuries have been reported.
Ian Armistead, Incident Commander for Lancashire Fire and Rescue, said: ‘’On arrival, the building was fully involved in fire, which required ten fire engines and specialist vehicles to attend the scene to deal with the incident.
‘’We ask that residents keep their windows and doors closed while we deal with this incident, and Europa Way is closed.
‘’We’re likely to be on the scene for a number of days, working with our partners to resolve this incident. We have a number of tactical plans to deal with it safely and effectively, and we’re trying to reduce the impact to the community as much as possible, so we’d appreciate as much patience as possible.’’
A major incident was declared earlier this year following other fires at the former skip hire site and power station, 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.
Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster, was among those calling for urgent action to clear the site due to concerns over the state of the building, premises and waste, and has been asking for help from the Government.
A1 Supa Skips Ltd went into administration in April 2022 and in November 2022, the Environment Agency announced they had removed their site permit.
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