When the fire broke out on Sunday afternoon, police officers warned residents to close their windows and stay inside their homes due to the possibility that the derelict building contained asbestos, which is harmful when inhaled.

However, some residents took matters into their own hands after smelling smoke coming from the fire similar to burnt plastic to evacuate and just come back when the smoke clears.

A report about a small group of people starting a small fire and burning a chair was caught on video. Due to this, the building has been declared a crime scene and the police are treating the incident as suspicious.

The Dangers of Asbestos

Asbestos exposure does not cause any immediate symptoms, which makes it easy for a person to inhale or swallow asbestos dust without realising it. Once it is in the body, they don’t dissolve and the body also will have a difficult time expelling them, leading to the asbestos fibres being trapped in the body, which later on can cause inflammation, scarring, and damage to the body’s cells.

Usually, illnesses related to asbestos take 20-50 years to develop. It can cause malignant diseases such as lung cancer.

From Derelict To A Green Space?

There has been an ongoing debate regarding what to do with the derelict building for months now. Some residents want to see the area transformed into a park.

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