Lismore City Council says firefighters are slowly making progress extinguishing a fire burning in nine large compost piles at the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre.

Firefighters and council workers are using heavy machinery and five bulk water carriers to pull the compost piles apart and saturate with water.

“FRNSW has indicated it could be a number of days or even weeks before the fire can be fully extinguished,” the council said in a statement.

The council had previously expected the fire to be out within a few days.

The NSW EPA said on Twitter that staff visited the site yesterday.

“The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is working with FRNSW and Lismore City Council to address the impact of the fire on waste management and air quality,” the council said.

Insurance assessors have begun preliminary investigations to assess the extent of damage to the Materials Recovery Facility.

“A full damage assessment and an extensive clean-up of the site will need to be undertaken before the Lismore Recycling and Recovery Centre can reopen to the public, which could take a number of weeks.”

The North Coast Public Health Unit is urging people with heart and respiratory conditions to take caution, with high air pollution levels in some areas of northern NSW as a result of the recycling centre fire as well as significant bushfire activity around the region.

People with asthma who can see or smell smoke can collect free respirators at the Bunnings trade desk by showing ID with a residential address within or around Lismore.

There are currently delays to waste collection across the city, particularly with green organics bins.

Residents have been asked to be patient and leave bins out until they are emptied.

“The collection of green waste is complicated by the yellow crazy ant exclusion zones still in place in and around Lismore,” the council’s executive director of infrastructure services Gary Murphy said.

“We are working with the EPA and the Department of Primary Industries to implement a solution but this is causing some delays to our collections.

“We urge residents to please be patient as we sort through these complex issues. Everyone is working their hardest to get the fire under control and services back to normal.”

For more information on the health impacts of smoke, visit the NSW Health website: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/factsheets/Pages/bushfire-smoke.aspx