Belfast fire: Huge blaze breaks out near city docks

Emergency services arrive at scene at around 1pm on Tuesday

Firefighters have been dispatched to tackle a large blaze that broke out at a metal scrapyard in the docks area of Belfast on Tuesday afternoon.

Photos and video shared on social media showed a large plume of black smoke rising high into the sky.

Six regular fire appliances and five specialist vehicles were sent to the scene – the Clearway Metal Recycling business on East Twin Road – at around 1pm.

A spokeswoman for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service told The Independent firefighters were expected to be at the scene “for some time”.

The spokeswoman said: “There is a significant smoke plume and we are asking people nearby to close doors and windows. There have been no injuries and we are yet to determine the cause of the fire.”

(rooney767)

(jontylad)

(jontylad)

Images showed half a dozen firefighters dousing a large mound of scrapped cars with water from a crane.

An unnamed witness told Belfast Live “large bangs and the sounds of car horns” could be heard nearby and a “pile of scrap metal” was ablaze.

A second witness told the news outlet: “Unfortunately the situation has become somewhat worst than an hour ago and a bigger area is now on fire. They are now trying to cool down adjacent buildings.”

One person wrote on Twitter: “Looks like a serious fire behind Titanic Belfast..Fire engines on way.”

Another said: “Massive fire at Belfast docs. This is right out my back! Not sure what’s burning but hoping everyone is safe.”

TrafficWatchNI tweeted that there was a fire in “Belfast Harbour Estate around Westbank Road / Dargan Road area - smoke visible from M2 citybound around J1 Fortwilliam” but added that it was “not impacting Motorway so far”.