Large building fire

Firefighters were called to reports of a large plume of smoke in Stambridge at around midday.

Fire crews reported that a number of large buildings was alight.

Crews are urging nearby residents to close their windows and doors as the fire is currently producing a lot of smoke.

*Update 1pm*

The fire involves a number of industrial units which measure a total area of 100m x 50m. Firefighters are fighting the fire and protecting the currently unaffected units.

*Update 2:30pm*

Around 60 firefighters are at the scene fighting the fire. Firefighters are using aerial ladder platforms to pour water on the fire from above. Crews are also using drones to get an live overview of the fire from the sky. 

*Update 3:30pm*

Good progress has been made. Firefighters have the fire well under control.

*Update 4:30pm*

Area Manager Neil Fenwick said: "The fire is almost out. We'll be on scene for a few more hours checking for hot spots and investigating the cause of the fire.

"When we arrived at the scene earlier today we found a well developed fire. The wind has been the major factor in how quickly the fire spread, but our firefighters working really hard to stop the fire spreading to any other units at the site.

"At the height we had around 80 firefighters here helping to extinguish the fire. The building on fire contained a large quantity of furniture, it also had cylinders and chemicals. This was a difficult fire so we bought in some our special equipment like our drone and aerial ladder platform to deal with the fire as safely as we can."

The incident is being scaled down to leave around 20 firefighters at the scene to finish extinguishing hot spots.

A fire investigation found the fire started accidentally.