A blaze at a derelict building on Newcastle's Quayside is being treated as suspected arson, police have confirmed.
Just before 6pm on Thursday, crews from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) received a call about a serious fire on City Road. Firefighters were on scene in just a matter of minutes to tackle the blaze at the old Stereo Bar which is currently unoccupied.
Investigations so far suggest the fire was started deliberately, the fire service have said. The building has been a target for arson attacks several times before. Local businesses and residents were advised to keep windows and doors closed but fortunately no one was hurt.
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In total nine appliances, two aerial ladder platforms (ALPs) and a specialist drone were deployed to the scene and the fire was extinguished just after 1am. Group Manager John Rossen, who was at incident, said more than 40 firefighters were at the scene to tackle the fire.
He said: "When our crews arrived on scene they immediately set about containing the fire and were able to bring it under control despite some difficult conditions as the building is in an unsafe condition. It was a really deep seated fire and we had to act quickly to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading.
"We had more than 40 firefighters on scene throughout the night and the crews did a great job of extinguishing the fire but it has caused extensive structural damage.
"Thankfully nobody was believed to be in the building at the time and nobody has reported suffering any injuries.
"Enquiries are ongoing into the circumstances around the incident but this is not the first time the building has been on fire and early indications are that it was started deliberately.
"We want to take this time to thank businesses and residents in the area who followed our advice and kept windows and doors locked.
"It was a challenging evening but we are really proud of our crews for a quick response that helped keep our communities safe."
Crews were on scene tackling the blaze for over seven hours before leaving the scene shortly after 1am. They re-attended around 5am to dampen some hotspots to prevent any embers in the site from reigniting.
The scene has since been left in the care of Newcastle City Council and some cordons remain in place at the scene until the structure of the building can be assessed.
A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "Shortly after 6.30pm yesterday we were made aware of a fire at Stereo on City Road, Newcastle.
"Our officers attended the scene to support firefighters from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service who were already in attendance.
"We will continue to work alongside our partners to determine the cause of the fire but at this time it is being treated asa suspected arson.
"We’d ask anyone with information to get in touch using the Tell us Something page on our website, quoting log NP-20220407-0793."
You can also report information anonymously by calling Firestoppers on 0800 169 5558.
