Manchester fire: Northern Quarter apartment block blaze leaves at least one injured

Hatty Collier30 December 2017

At least one person has been taken to hospital after a huge fire broke out at an apartment block in Manchester city centre.

The ninth floor of a 12-storey block of flats in the Northern Quarter caught alight on Saturday afternoon, a spokesman for Manchester Fire said.

Flames and smoke quickly spread to other floors.

The brigade advised people to avoid the area and for nearby residents to keep windows and doors shut.

Blaze: The fire broke out at a block of flats in Manchester city centre (Ben ‏ @B___K_____ )
Ben ‏ @B___K_____

Twelve fire engines were sent to the scene of the fire at the Lighthouse apartments building shortly after 4.30pm.

It took more than four hours to bring the fire fully under control.

Blaze: The fire broke out on the ninth floor of a 12-storey building in Manchester's Northern Quarter
PA

Video footage of the scene showed flames and smoke engulfing several balconies.

Shortly before 6pm, a spokesman for Manchester Fire said one person had been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and that the incident was still ongoing.

The fire service tweeted: "We're currently tackling a fire on the 9th floor of a 12 storey building on Joiner Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

"Please avoid the area if possible and keep windows and doors shut if you live nearby."

It later added: "We still have 12 fire appliances tackling the blaze in the Northern Quarter over a number of floors. Firefighting in still ongoing and one casualty has been taken to hospital suffer by smoke inhalation. Please avoid the area as roads are still shut."

The building is located on Joiner Street in Manchester city centre
PA

Joiner Street and Church Street have been closed while emergency services deal with the fire, Greater Manchester Police tweeted.

Labour and Co-operative MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell posted a statement on social media. She said: "I hope everyone is ok. This looks like a major incident. Fire services and emergency services are at the scene. Please let them get on with their job and keep area clear.

"Pat [Karney, Manchester councillor] is at the scene and tells me the fire has been put out. He and the council will ensure that anyone evacuated will have somewhere to stay. All fire and response procedures have kicked in. Again, please stay away from area to allow services access."

Witness Andrew Hirst said crowds could be heard cheering as the blaze was being extinguished.

"You could hear the crowd's cheers as it was going down and you could see the torches from the firemen searching the burned out apartments right next door to the other apartments that were still frighteningly ablaze," the 36-year-old told the Press Association.

The businessman, who lives in Manchester's Northern Quarter, said the firefighters "controlled it well", adding the incident was "pretty scary".

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