Northern Ireland

Major fire at distribution centre in Belfast found to be accidental

The remains of a fire that started at a feed mill in the Duncrue industrial estate area. Picture by Mark Marlow.
The remains of a fire that started at a feed mill in the Duncrue industrial estate area. Picture by Mark Marlow. The remains of a fire that started at a feed mill in the Duncrue industrial estate area. Picture by Mark Marlow.

A MAJOR fire at a distribution centre in the docks area of Belfast was last night found to be accidental.

The blaze at a distribution centre belonging to Belfast-based agri technology company, Devenish on Duncrue Street was discovered at around 11pm on Thursday.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen across the city as the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) tackled the blaze, which led to the closure of some roads, through the night.

A NIFRS spokesman said "early actions" had prevented the fire spreading to three adjoining businesses.

At the height of the operation a total of 13 fire appliances and more than 60 fire personnel were involved.

The spokesman added: "Four Fire crews are currently in attendance, continuing to deal with the fire.

"The high rack shelving and roof in the premises have collapsed, and Firefighters are working to extinguish the fire using breathing apparatus and a high volume pump.

"There will continue to be smoke in the area and we would advise the public to keep their windows closed and avoid the area if possible."

In a statement, Devenish said "no employees were inside the building" when the fire broke out.

"This has not impacted production at our separate mill facility, which continues to operate as normal," a spokesman said.

"We would like to thank the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service for their incredible effort to tackle this fire throughout the night. We are now working closely with them and PSNI to establish the cause of this incident and next steps".