Oxford Road: Firefighters tackle nuisance smoke from waste paper bin

A small fire in a waste paper bin on Durham Road brought out a fire engine from Forest Gate station this afternoon at 2pm. Crews used a stainless steel bucket and water from the fire engine to extinguish the blaze.

Local residents say the bin had been causing nuisance smoke for several days on and off. One told Blackpool News he is not allowed to burn in his own garden because of council rules, and questioned why a business should be able to burn paper and “make a stink.”

Blackpool Council’s clean air policy makes clear that smoke from burning is treated as a nuisance. Residents are prohibited from garden bonfires that cause smoke drift, and businesses are expected to dispose of waste responsibly.

In this case, the failure to deal with the paper correctly led to the use of emergency vehicles which could have been needed to save a life elsewhere – a reminder that common sense disposal could have prevented the incident altogether.