Newport: Nursery burns down in huge industrial estate fire

A nursery has been destroyed by a large fire on an industrial estate.

Wibli Wobli Nursery said it was "absolutely heartbroken" that its premises had been destroyed by the blaze, which started on Sunday night.

Emergency services were called to the Wern Industrial Estate in Rogerstone, Newport, after flames were seen emerging from the roof of a warehouse.

Gwent Police said no injuries had been reported and its inquiries were ongoing.

At the height of the incident, more than 75 firefighters and tactical officers were in attendance, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said.

A nearby resident said the flames were "easily double the height of the building".

Flames engulfed a warehouse in the Rogerstone area of Newport

The incident slowly scaled down from 02:30 GMT, the fire service said, as crews made progress to extinguish the fire in specific fire sectors.

It added that crews would remain in attendance, dampening down and making up the area before leaving the scene.

The nursery said it was looking for an alternative building in the area.

Natasha Baker, owner of Wibli Wobli nursery, said she realised something was wrong quite quickly.

"We could see from the cameras inside the nursery the flames and then it all went black," she said.

"So we knew there was a fire and something had happened. We came straight down to see and there were just 50-foot flames going up into the air."

The nursery only opened in April, caring for 60 children and had just made many finishing touches to the building.  

"It's really sad," Ms Baker, who employs 14 people, added.

"We worked so hard, we got all the equipment, it was looking really nice.

"We'd just redone the floor, we just had our first inspection report and it was good across all areas - we just worked so hard."

The fire caused devastation to buildings

Gwent Police said it first got reports of the fire at about 20:50 on Sunday and its officers worked with the fire service to "assist traffic access for fire appliances and to maintain cordons to keep public safe".

Mike Taylor, pastor of Faith Church, which is adjacent to the building which has burnt down, said the fire was "intense and scary".

"It was crazy how quickly it went up and how quickly it spread.

I don't think I've ever seen a fire like it, it was like something out of the Blitz," he said.

Marie and Lewis Groucott, who live on the street next to the estate, said they initially thought the noise was due to fireworks.

They have an office in the building next to the warehouse destroyed by fire.

"It was just getting louder and I looked out the back, and I could see it on fire," she said.

"I did scream as I thought it was our building... I rang 999 and they said they had already had seven calls."

Drinkers had to be evacuated from the Tiny Rebel bar next door

"Even by quarter to nine, the flames were easily double the height of the building, they were massive," added Lewis Groucott.

The fire broke out in a building adjacent to Tiny Rebel Brewery, from which customers had to be evacuated.

"The brewery is fine and currently untouched by the blaze," a spokesman for the brewery said.

Tiny Rebel said in a statement on Monday afternoon that it had had to pause online orders and added the brewery's bar would be open again on Tuesday.