FOLLOWING a major fire at an industrial estate in Paisley, a trade union has raised “concerns” over the storage of hazardous materials.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) crews were mobilised to the Linwood Industrial Estate just after 9pm on Sunday following reports of a fire at an electrical and battery recycling treatment facility on Burnbrae Road.
As of Tuesday afternoon, three appliances remain on the scene, with crews working to eliminate any remaining hotspots. An investigation into the fire will take place once the fire has been extinguished.
The blaze has led the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to raise alarms over the storage of batteries and other hazardous materials at recycling facilities, and the danger firefighters are exposed to when dealing with these kinds of fires.
Gus Sproul, Scotland chair of the FBU, said: “The FBU have concerns about the speed of the introduction of technology and the regulations around EVs, battery storage etc.
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"These will be shared by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. We know that there are many hazardous materials contained in the kinds of devices stored at this facility, and that many of them are very challenging to extinguish when involved in a fire.”
The FBU have since called on Keir Starmer to “face the emergency” of an underfunded fire service in England when he enters Downing Street.
The union warned that responses to national emergencies and major incidents in England had been “impeded by a lack of resilience”.
It published a manifesto ahead of the General Election which aims to address the “crisis”, calling on all parliamentary candidates to pledge their support.
The fire service is a devolved matter in Scotland, with MSPs in Holyrood responsible for making decisions.
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On Tuesday afternoon, Neil Bibby – Scottish Labour MSP for West Scotland – lodged a topical question in Holyrood asking the Scottish Government for its response to “the reported public safety and environmental concerns” arising from the fire.
Minister for victims and community safety, Siobhan Brown (below), urged residents who have found debris from the fire on their property to reach out to their local authority.
She added that the Scottish Government, alongside other UK nations, is currently reviewing UK-wide batteries regulation.
Industrial reaction
Oil platform workers at CNOOC in Aberdeen have voted to accept a new pay deal negotiated by Unite.
The pay offer is worth up to a 12.5% increase, in addition to a lump sum of £2000 which has been backdated to April 1.
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