Buckshaw Village fire: Drone footage shows scale of blaze at Clayton Hall landfill site as firefighting operations continue

The fire started at Quercia Limited's site off Dawson Lane, near Buckshaw Village, at around 12.15am on Wednesday (July 13).

By 1pm that day, 15 fire engines were battling the flames, with crews expected to remain at the scene for the rest of the day.

Incident commander Mal Dewhurst said: “We estimate approximately 6,000 sq m of surface area of the landfill is affected by the fire.

“There are areas that we know it has gone deep-seated.”

By 6.50pm, the incident was reduced to eight fire engines from Blackburn, Bamber Bridge, Tarleton, Lancaster, South Shore and Blackpool.

Two Stingers from Blackburn and Skelmersdale, two high volume pumps from Burnley, the BA Unit from Preston and the foam pod from Leyland also remained.

Incident Commander John Rossen said LFRS were “likely to be in attendance for a number of days.”

Footage shared by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service’s drone team showed the extent of the fire.

“This is the situation this evening at the incident in Chorley as the sun sets,” a spokesman for LFRS said.

“We will be working throughout the night.

“Please do not fly drones near the scene.”

Nearby residents were urged to keep doors and windows closed due to the large amount of smoke being produced by the fire.

Dawson Lane was also closed in both directions as emergency services battled the flames, with motorists advised to find alternative routes.

Crews worked alongside specialists from the Environment Agency as well as local authorities to help bring the fire to a safe conclusion.