Two million litres of water used to put out major fire
BBCAn estimated two million litres of water were used to put out a major fire at an art materials manufacturer, a fire service official said.
Homes near the Daler-Rowney site in Bracknell, Berkshire, were evacuated on 25 May, with some residents spending a night in temporary accommodation before returning the following day.
Tim Readings, from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service's (RBFRS), said firefighters were helped by six other fire services during the complex operation.
A light breeze sent a large smoke plume above Bracknell and RBFRS requested a model from the Met Office to understand the potential extent of contamination from the fire, he added.
The blaze scattered dust and debris over people's homes but the risk of any contamination from asbestos that was in the factory's roof remains low, authorities have said.
Readings, RBFRS's area manager for policy and assurance, said there remains "some evidence of environmental impact" after contaminated fire water entered the surface water system but that it is being "closely monitored" by the Environment Agency (EA).
"Additional meetings have taken place with Thames Water on site to make sure all potential environmental impacts are being addressed comprehensively and the EA is working with Daler-Rowney to make sure that all remaining contaminated fire water is fully contained and safely removed from the site," he added.
"We estimate we applied around two million litres of water to the fire during our firefighting operations."
Readings said the operation was helped by firefighters from Hampshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and London fire services, along with volunteers from Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue.
He told councillors and members of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority on Monday that the fire service is undertaking a "structured debrief" about what went well and could be improved during its operation.
He said that is a "normal part of operational learning progress".
