Sunderland garage fire: Crews stop flames spreading

Fire crews dealt with the fire as darkness fell on Monday evening

Firefighters stopped what they said was a "rapidly" large garage blaze from spreading to nearby properties.

It broke out just before 22:00 BST on Monday at a commercial unit in Old Mill Road, Hendon, Sunderland.

The first crews were on scene in just five minutes but called for back-up due to the intensity of the flames, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue said.

Nobody was at the garage at the time of the fire but the site has been damaged throughout.

Several reinforcements were called to the scene in Old Mill Road

Group manager Shaun Makin, who led the response, said: "This was a substantial fire that was quickly spreading and light was a significant issue for our firefighters on the ground.

"It was important that we acted quickly and I saw first-hand the speed at which our fire control team, and then our firefighters, worked to bring the incident under control and stop the fire spreading to adjacent properties."

Nobody was inside the building at the time of the fire and no injuries have been reported

An investigation will be carried out into how the fire started, which is being treated as accidental, Northumbria Police said.

"Emergency services attended and the fire was put out a short time later," a spokesperson added.

"Thankfully, no-one was injured."