Joint statement on the ongoing fire incident at Bucks Recycling
Date: 9th September 2025
Provided by
Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service
Environment Agency
Buckinghamshire Council
Bucks Recycling
Savills
Background
Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service (BFRS) attended a fire inside a large hanger type building at Bucks Recycling on the Westcott Venture Park estate on the morning of Sunday 10 August.
The material on fire was construction and demolition, industrial and commercial waste. The site is not permitted to accept asbestos or waste wood that has been treated with any hazardous material.
The cause of the fire is unconfirmed.
BFRS commanders on scene completed a thorough risk assessment and deemed the building itself unsafe to enter without an assessment by a suitably qualified structural engineer as it could pose a significant risk to firefighters through the potential for collapse. This decision has subsequently been proven correct as the building has been condemned and must be demolished.
The assessment resulted in an operational decision to adopt a defensive strategy and carry out a controlled burn with the primary objectives of maximising firefighter safety and protecting surrounding buildings from fire spread. This decision was communicated to and agreed with partner agencies.
At this stage of incident response BFRS was providing approximately 1,200-1,800 litres of water per minute onto the fire from a safe distance. This continued until the threat from fire to life or property was eliminated.
At around 6pm on Tuesday 12 August BFRS replaced continuous resourcing at the Westcott site with four hourly re-inspections, with firefighters returning to the site to monitor the situation and ensure the fire remained contained.
BFRS liaised with their partner agencies, which include the Environment Agency (EA) and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) throughout the incident.
The National Air Quality Technical Advisor which includes the UKHSA, were consulted and it was established that the smoke emanating from the fire posed a minimal risk to public health and no air quality monitoring arrangements needed to be made, but if the situation deteriorated this should be reviewed.
On Wednesday 13 August, BFRS officially handed the scene back to Bucks Recycling, with the understanding it would continue to monitor the situation and seek advice from a structural engineer as to whether the building requires demolishing or if safe entry can be made to fully extinguish the fire. The building remains cordoned off with no one allowed to enter due to the health and safety risks it presents.
One point to clarify is that the EA is the regulating authority for normal operations of the site, which it controls through the site’s operating permit. The permit sets out the EA’s requirements for how the site must be managed, and how certain nuisance factors such as odour, noise or dust generated through the normal day to day running of the site, must be controlled. However, the operating permit and the EA’s regulatory responsibility does not extend to nuisance factors resulting from accidental fires on site, as with this incident.
The site operates under a planning permission issued by the local planning authority which is Buckinghamshire Council. The planning permission contains a number of conditions which controls on-site operations, but does not extend to controlling accidental fires on site.
Current situation
For a number of reasons, including weather conditions and the fact that the materials in the building cannot be safely moved and spread out to accelerate the ongoing controlled burn, the fire has continued for longer than expected. This has caused an extended period of disturbance to the local community.
Bucks Recycling and the other organisations involved in this incident recognise how frustrating this has been for the local community. Communication and engagement with the local community could also have been better co-ordinated and managed. However, all the organisations involved – Bucks Recycling, Westcott Venture Park, Savills, BFRS, the EA and Buckinghamshire Council would like to reassure the local community that they continue to work together to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Next steps
The process for appointing a contractor to demolish the unsafe building is currently underway and should be concluded soon. Once appointed, work to demolish the building will begin as quickly as possible, subject to relevant permissions being granted by the Local Authority (Buckinghamshire Council).
This will enable the remaining material that is still burning to be extinguished. Ongoing liaison between the various organisations involved will ensure the best course of action will be implemented.
In the meantime, and while the remaining waste continues to smoulder BFRS advice is always to try and avoid breathing smoke in, so wherever possible please keep windows closed if there is smoke in the area.
Should you have any enquiries please contact Bucks Recycling on 01296 651678 or use the online contact form at Contact – Bucks Recycling.
Should you have any health concerns regarding the smoke coming from the site, please contact the NHS on 111
For any concerns about normal operations on the site please contact Bucks Recycling or the EA on 03708 506 506 or: enquiries_thames@environment-agency.gov.uk
