Farmers praised for help in tackling major fire in Newry

A tractor and slurry tank can be seen assisting firefighters in tackling the blaze at the Greenbank industrial estate

A senior fire commander has thanked local farmers in the Newry area who assisted fire officers with a major blaze near the city centre.

At one stage, 50 firefighters were dealing with the incident in the Greenbank industrial estate.

The alarm was raised at 11:47 BST on Saturday after it is believed the fire broke out in a kart racing centre and spread to two other units.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) Group Commander, Paul Gould, thanked local farmers who had brought their slurry tanks.

"I can't commend them enough," he said.

Paul Gould from the fire service thanked local farmers

'Dangerous conditions'

"The use of their agricultural vehicles and their help and assistance has been so valuable.

"They've been assisting us with their machinery and were able to feed us water, initially, when we didn't have enough resources here and they're still assisting us.

"So, I honestly want to thank each and every one of them."

Mr Gould said officers had been working in "dangerous conditions" as the fire was "well-developed" when crews arrived.

He added that the blaze had been "very complicated to deal with" due to the "layout and construction of the building".

The fire spread to two other units, including a furniture showroom.

The owners of the furniture shop, House of Murphy, a 50-year-old business said their shop had been destroyed.

Selina Murphy told BBC News NI the shop employs 11 people.

"We are in this premises 27 years but this year we were celebrating 50 years in business as the House of Murphy," she said.

Business-owner Selina Murphy said it was a shocking scene

"It's shocking to see what has happened.

"The fire service has been unreal - they were on site quickly and attended rapidly," she added.

Selina Murphy said firefighters had arrived on the scene quickly

At the scene: Darran Marshall, BBC News NI

The fire is close to Páirc Esler GAA stadium and various business premises

Earlier, loud popping noises could be heard in the city and large plumes of black smoke were seen from more than 10 miles away.

The fire moved from the back, towards the front of the building, and part of it collapsed.

Flames could be seen leaping over the roof and a large cordon was put in place.

A convoy of tractors with slurry tanks full of water spent the day dousing down the flames.

The heat of the fire was, at one stage, so intense it could be felt from where I was standing, outside Down GAA’s Páirc Esler.

Earlier, the fire service and police were concerned about the fire spreading to adjacent premises.

Thick black smoke engulfed the area

The operation to extinguish the blaze is ongoing and, while the NIFRS said resources have scaled down, fire crews are expected to remain at the scene overnight.

Earlier Mr Gould said a "large number of resources" had been deployed to tackle the blaze - six pump appliances, two aerial appliances and one control unit.

Fire officers from Newry, Warrenpoint and Belfast are involved in the operation.

The NIFRS has advised residents to "keep all windows and doors closed in the local area".

The roads around the estate had been closed to traffic earlier but have since reopened.

Greenbank industrial estate is located next to the Warrenpoint dual carriageway

Earlier Karen McKevitt, a former SDLP assembly member, told BBC News NI, from the scene, it looked like the flames were "spreading quite quickly".

"It's bellowing out quite a lot of black, thick smoke and I have been speaking to a few local businesses down in Greenbank who have evacuated their premises as a precautionary [measure] with their windows closed," she said.

Part of the front of the building appears to have collapsed in

Ms McKevitt added her thoughts were with the affected businesses based in the industrial estate and the emergency services who were trying to protect them.