Daler Rowney Fire: Bracknell Residents Evacuated

The Daler Rowney fire on Bank Holiday Monday, May 25, was the biggest emergency Bracknell residents can remember. People were evacuated, debris filled the sky and nearby homes reported a sugary, smoky smell.

Becki Longstaff, who returned home mid-afternoon, said her daughter shouted: "Mum there's smoke!" She realised the smell was from the factory: "Er – that's Daler-Rowney. It was really sweet," and others agreed. "The fire smelled like marshmallows – it smelled like somebody was toasting marshmallows."

Many evacuees were sent to Waitrose headquarters and praised the help there, but some criticised the response as "diabolical". One resident said: "The emergency planning is a bit diabolical... people... kept being directed to somewhere else. It's very stressful." Another added: "The police didn't take my number – they just told me to get out... nobody could get a straight answer. Many of us couldn't get... medication. You all just dumped us really."

Local councillors opened Jennett's Park community centre; manager Kerry Sutton said: "We made sure we came straight back from Swindon." Peter Smith took his children to the Coppid Beach [Hotel] to calm them: "Quite honestly, the children obviously got quite scared... We took the decision... to go to the Coppid Beach [Hotel]... let them get calm." He later said: "Not long after that the police turned up in numbers... the decision was made to evacuate, which... was totally the right choice."

Fire crews worked into the night. Area manager Tim Readings, who first got a call at 15:10, said they used huge amounts of water and that most of it stayed on site. He confirmed: "No foam – just water. We didn't use fire-retarding foam." Susan Haliwell, chief executive of Bracknell Forest, said: "This is usual for an incident of this size... The council was on hand to assist when requested."

Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter