Fire at Daler-Rowney site

Background

A large fire broke out on the Daler-Rowney site in Peacock Lane, Bracknell, on Monday 25 May.

As a precaution, around 60 properties in the Jennett’s Park area were evacuated by the emergency services while the fire was contained and extinguished. Residents have since been able to return home.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service led the response to the fire and Bracknell Forest Council has since taken over as the lead organisation for recovery. This is usual for emergencies of this nature.

The cause of the fire currently remains unknown.

You can find more information about the recovery from the fire below. 

Contact your councillor

You can also contact your local ward councillor with questions or requests for support.

The ward councillors for the Jennett's Park area are:

• Cllr Georgia Pickering
• Cllr Stephen O'Regan

Latest update: Monday 22 June

More information regarding sample testing (asbestos and water) has now been received following the preliminary results. These results demonstrate that overall, the area is safe following the fire. UKHSA’s public health risk assessment and risk in relation to asbestos remains low, as it has throughout the incident.

This is because:

• debris has been removed from the site by specialist contractors
• since the fire, time and weather have helped clean the area
• rain has washed away dirt and harmful dust
• water has diluted anything left on the ground
• wind has blown away fine particles
• harmful gases have gone

Overall, the risk to people is very low.

Airborne risk

Airborne risk is mainly an issue during the acute fire stage. 

The airborne risk is very low because:

• smoke has cleared
• gases have gone
• dust has settled

Risk: very low

Soil 

The risk is low for soil in gardens and play areas because:

• most dirt has been washed away or spread out
• any pollution left is likely to be in small patches

Risk: low

Water 

The risk to people is low for water in rivers, ponds and surface water because:

• most pollution has been washed away or diluted
• small amounts may remain in mud or slow water
• no issues detected in water courses

Risk to people: low

Drinking water

The risk is low for drinking water because no concerns have been found with mains or private water supplies.

Risk: low

Water and surfaces

General advice for water and surfaces is:

• do not touch unknown or dirty water
• be vigilant with pets
• contact the council if you are worried

Health advice

General health advice is that:

• most risk was during the fire itself
• smoke clears quickly once a fire is out
• the risk of resulting long-term health problems is low

If you have symptoms

If you have breathing or skin problems, seek medical advice through your GP or NHS 111.

Food and growing

For food and growing food:

• no effects on local farms are known
• wash homegrown produce before eating
• for advice about homegrown food, contact the food standards agency or Environmental Health

Precautions

These are simple precautions to keep you safe:

For everyone:

• wash your hands after gardening
• wash homegrown fruit and vegetables before eating

For children

• it is safe to play outside
• remind them to wash their hands before eating

For pets

• keep pets away from unknown or dirty or cloudy water

Summary

The risk to residents is low and people should feel safe to return to normal daily life.

Test results are currently being reviewed by our partners and experts. This will inform what, if anything, is required to address any remaining concerns.

The local environment remains a priority. Daler-Rowney has appointed a leading environmental consultant, Ramboll, to assess it, and consider what further restoration work may be required.

Ramboll may conduct further tests for monitoring purposes. 

Previous updates

Fire cause and containment 

The cause of the fire remains unknown at this time. A fire investigation is ongoing.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service had been carrying out regular ongoing inspections of the site to damp down any remaining hotspots. They left the site and stopped hotspot inspections on Wednesday 3 June.  

Clean-up advice and guidance

Initial advice stated that, based on scientific guidance, residents could clean up soot from their homes, gardens and vehicles. It also stated that debris should not be removed. 

As the situation evolved and more information came to light about the possible make-up of the Daler-Rowney building, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) stated there may be a low public health risk associated with the debris. 

Therefore, residents in the immediate area of the Daler-Rowney building were advised on Thursday 28 May to leave all remaining debris and ash untouched until it had been assessed. 

Council staff visited around 100 properties on Friday 29 May, to identify where specialist cleaning was needed. The visits and inspections showed the impact was limited to properties very close to the source of the fire. 

The children’s play area in Browning Copse was closed as a precaution and cleaned by the contractor. It has now reopened.

Daler-Rowney is cleaning pools of run off liquid from the fire, under the direction of the Environment Agency. As a result, the path behind Butler Drive is currently shut and will reopen once the work has been completed. A 6-month closure notice for the path has been advertised but the work is not expected to take that long. 

Residents who live in the area have been advised that they can mow and tend their gardens as usual if they do not have debris remaining. Fresh home-grown produce should be washed thoroughly before cooking and eating. 

If you live close to the area and still have debris in your garden, home or vehicle and have not been visited, you should have received a letter with contact details on how to arrange an assessment. As the contractors have now left site, you can contact our customer services team to let us know about any debris that has not already been removed. You can contact customer services by:

• email: customer.services@bracknell-forest.gov.uk
• phone: 01344 352000

Debris and water sample test results

The preliminary results from debris samples have now been received and residents affected have been written to directly. 

Samples taken from firewater at the site have confirmed the presence of a range of organic compounds. Given the variety of materials stored at the Daler-Rowney facility, the detection of these substances was expected. Please read the environmental impact section for details on remediation work. 

Health concerns 

The UKHSA has stated the risk from the debris to public health remains low.

There is unlikely to be any significant exposure to asbestos following fires involving materials containing cement asbestos. 

There is no direct evidence of long-term health risks from fires involving cement asbestos, but it is sensible that any cement asbestos debris is removed to minimise any potential exposure.  

If residents do find ash or debris from the fire on their property, they are advised to leave it alone and contact customer services by:

• email: customer.services@bracknell-forest.gov.uk
• phone: 01344 352000

If you have breathed in dust, it is likely to be in a relatively small amount. This single short-term exposure should not significantly affect your health. Asbestos is present in small quantities in both urban and rural air in the UK and so we are all breathing in small amounts of asbestos fibres over our lifetimes. The amount you may have breathed in from this one fire is likely to be insignificant in comparison with our overall background exposure during the course of our lives.

If you have any health concerns, including mental health, then you are advised to contact your GP or call 111 for advice. More information about asbestos can be found on GOV.UK. 

Change in advice 

As is usual with evolving emergency situations, advice often changes. As soon as we received revised information on 28 May, we made the public aware and took steps to visit properties that could be affected by ash and debris the following day.  

We have always advised that debris should not be removed by the public and should be reported to us. It was the extra information about there being a possible cement asbestos roof that led to the UKHSA to state there was a low-level health risk attached to the debris. This prompted the need for home visits and wider specialist clean-up. 

Environmental impact

Following the fire, Daler-Rowney was aware of fire water runoff from the site. They immediately notified the Environment Agency (EA) and have been working under their guidance and supervision ever since.

Additional meetings have been taking place with Thames Water on-site to make sure all potential environmental impacts are being addressed comprehensively. On site pumping has been continuing with some necessary overnight working taking place.

The EA working with Daler-Rowney is making sure all remaining contaminated firewater is fully contained and safely removed from the site. They continue to work with Daler-Rowney so further remedial work can be carried out.

Environmental monitoring has confirmed that contaminated firewater entered the surface water system and there is some evidence of environmental impact. This is being closely monitored by the EA.

Samples taken from firewater at the site have confirmed the presence of a range of organic compounds. Given the variety of materials stored at the Daler Rowney facility, the detection of these substances was expected.

Daler-Rowney took action to remove material from the water ahead of test results being received, and remediation efforts are ongoing both on-site and in surrounding areas.

The remediation work includes the installation of sumps to capture and remove contaminated water. Encouragingly, the volume of contaminated water is decreasing.

Environment Agency specialists will continue to assess local water quality closely and work with Daler-Rowney and other agencies to ensure any remaining contamination is effectively addressed and the local environment is fully restored. As a precaution while this work continues, members of the public and their pets are advised to avoid contact with any potentially contaminated water.

If anyone has concerns or witnesses any dead or struggling fish, please report it on the free hotline 0800 807060.

Daler Rowney 

Daler-Rowney is working with recovery partners and following guidance and instructions. 

There is a direct contact for residents and the community who have questions and concerns: cedric.grossmann@daler-rowney.com.

Compensation 

The council is processing a number of temporary accommodation claims following the evacuation on 25 May. These are being dealt with as quickly as possible. Any outstanding accommodation claims should be sent to customer.services@bracknell-forest.gov.uk with a copy of the invoice. 

For damage caused by Thames Valley Police as part of the evacuation, residents wishing to submit a claim should email legal.enquiries@thamesvalley.police.uk. Each case will be assessed individually. Please quote the reference number: INC-20260525-1338.

Residents seeking any other compensation should contact Daler-Rowney directly with supporting documentation: cedric.grossmann@daler-rowney.com. The company is already liaising with its insurance company on all queries regarding potential claims received. 

Public statements

Our previous public statements include:

• 12 June: Joint Statement on Incident in Bracknell
• 3 June: Drop-in session regarding Daler-Rowney fire
• 2 June: Joint update on the recovery from Daler-Rowney site fire
• 28 May: Urgent update – public health advice on fire debris
• 26 May: Joint statement from Bracknell Forest Council and Berkshire Fire and Rescue on the fire at Peacock Lane