I FELT your coverage of the wood chip blaze in Brampton (December 5) understated the seriousness of the event. I would just like to set the record straight. The fire burned day and night and, if anyone has not had to sleep in a smoke filled room, they wi
I FELT your coverage of the wood chip blaze in Brampton (December 5) understated the seriousness of the event.
I would just like to set the record straight. The fire burned day and night and, if anyone has not had to sleep in a smoke filled room, they will not have any idea of the discomfort and distress caused, particularly to people with chronic lung disease, such as asthma. I am not a doctor, so will not put forward any theories about health risks.
I believe that, while the fire service judgement to leave the fire to burn out was their call, I do not think they should be left to make a judgment about public health. They may be experts in hazardous substances, but in my opinion the Health Protection Agency should have been informed. I informed them a week after it started.
Information and advice leaflets could have been distributed so that residents could decide whether to move out (paid for by Marshalls, I would hope).
I discovered early on that there is no reporting mechanism for the public other than the Environment Agency emergency line. Their respondent told me that I should have contacted the HDC environmental health department. HDC had very little information.
However, I finally contacted the Environment Agency, which gave me chapter and verse because it licensed Marshalls. Communication between local agencies was patchy.
I am happy to have Marshalls on my doorstep but would like to see a few changes in the way incidents are dealt with so residents can feel a bit more confident that pollution incidents are dealt with quickly by people who are well informed.
Mrs LINDA SINCLAIR, Abbott Close, Brampton
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