Fire at Bede Industrial Estate in Jarrow, South Tyneside

Emergency services were called to Bede Industrial Estate in Jarrow at 12.30am after the alarm was raised by a member of the public. 

With the fire covering an area over 10,000 square metres, a total of ten appliances were sent to the area to help bring the incident under control.

Read more: Road closure at Kinninvie crossroads could be permanent

At its height, 52 firefighters were involved in the operation with two Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP) vehicles and a drone unit being used in the response.

Crews battled the fire through the early hours but have now been able to bring the incident under control, with two appliances remains on scene on Sunday morning to dampen down any hot spots or embers.

Now Assistant Chief Fire Officer Lynsey McVay, who attended the scene, has praised the response of staff who helped prevent the blaze from spreading to other properties.

She said: "This was a significant fire that was creating a lot of smoke and spreading very quickly due to the materials that were within the unit itself.

"Our staff had to act quickly to get the fire under control and our fire control staff did a great job mobilising the right crew and resources to the scene.

"It has been a large operation throughout the night with more than 50 firefighters attending the scene to get the quick spreading fire under control.

"There has been significant damage to the units affected but it has been contained to one premises and those crews in attendance did a fantastic job.

"We will have a presence on the scene throughout Sunday and we would continue to ask residents in the area to keep your doors and windows shut due to smoke that remains in the area.

"We will be supporting the police with any investigation into the fire but I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their fantastic work last night, including our partners who helped facilitate our operation."

An investigation into the circumstances around the fire will now take place alongside Northumbria Police with a cordon remaining in place at the site today.

Chief Superintendent Neil Hutchison, of Northumbria Police, said: “I would like to thank the officers who attended, the fire service and partners from the local authority. This was a great example of different organisations working together to support the fire service in bringing this large blaze under control.

“I would ask residents to continue to listen to the advice of the fire service and keep your doors and windows shut.

Read next:

• Hallgarth Care Home in Durham to close in coming months
• Trial date for Gordon Gault murder accused in Newcastle
• Scarlett Moffatt gives birth to boy at Durham Hospital

​​​​​​​​​​Read unlimited, ad-light articles with a digital subscription to The Northern Echo. Click here.

Ch Supt Hutchison said: "We are committed to working alongside the fire service to ascertain the cause of the fire and whether it was malicious.

"Those enquiries are very much ongoing, I urge anyone who may have information about what caused this fire to contact us.”

At this time nobody is unaccounted for and there is no evidence to suggest that anybody was in the building during the fire itself.