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Fire at former asbestos factory

Date published: 15 February 2013

More than 50 firefighters have spent the night battling a difficult blaze at a former asbestos factory but now have it under control.

Local road closures remain in place and the local water supply has been affected.

Residents were advised to close doors and windows as a precaution due to the sheer amount of smoke the fire was creating but this is now restricted to those living in the immediate vicinity of Fallowfield Drive.

Crews were called to the former Turner and Newall mill in Spodden Valley just after 2.45am on Friday, February 15, and found the building well alight.

Firefighters faced difficulties getting close enough to the building to start tackling the fire as access is cut off to the disused site by road blocks.

The fire had engulfed all the floors of the three-storey building and firefighters spent hours battling to bring the fire under control.

As well as firefighters who are working to put the fire out, specialist officers – such as hazardous materials officers – are there to help ensure the safety of those working at the site, those living nearby and the environment.

Station Manager Paul Etches said: “We’re working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible and we asked residents living close to the site can help us protect them by keeping doors and windows closed.

“The fire is now under control and we’ve been working with the local authority and health agencies and the advice remains the same but is limited only to those in the immediate vicinity of Fallowfield Drive.

“There should be minimal disruption to residents schools and businesses but crews will remain on the scene throughout the day damping down.”

Crews from Rochdale, Littleborough, Heywood & Bury Fire Stations attended the scene as well as specialist appliances and support crews from Philips Park, Hyde and Stalybridge and an aerial appliance from Oldham.

Simon Danczuk MP said: “Local people, campaigners and experts have been saying for years that this site is unsafe and their fears have been fully justified.

“What’s important now is that specialist air testing is carried out as quickly as possible in order to give local people the facts. This should be led through a swift multi-agency response bringing together the Health and Safety Executive, the Environment Agency and other groups that have been involved in raising issues about this site for the last eight years.

“There must be no cover up regarding this site and local people’s safety has to be paramount.”

Comments

Any chance of breathing masks courtesy of T&N, asbestos spores are not exactly going to add to the air quality are they now?

Make sure there are enough for the borough and for all ages. The spores will travel wide and far and will not be picky.

When are Rochdale Council officers going to get a grip on the situation at Turner Brothers? How bad has it got to be before they make this site safe for residents? The powers that be say "no risk to the public from this fire”. The roof and a lot of the walls are asbestos. It took 50 firemen to control the blaze, I call that extremely risky.
There is now talk of contacting the present owner to make the site safe, and maybe finding another owner. Are they prepared to give anyone a go at it?

The fire was bound to happen. There was a burnt out car inside. With time to spare, gangs of carefree metal thieves have removed all the metal from this building. They broke up and removed large amounts of the old filtering system. The enormous pillars that hold up the building are still there, but who knows?

I move that all future environment Committee Meetings be held inside the building until such time as these local half wits focus their minds and address this worsening public health issue before its swept under the carpet again. They fully know the risks but are hoping the problem will go away. They should be made personally financially and criminally liable for any subsequent health claims made by locals who may contract illnesses in the future or stand down at once.