Newcastle fire: Roads closed and two taken to hospital following morning fire at Westerhope commercial property

Emergency services were called to a premises in Westerhope, west Newcastle on Tuesday after reports of a fire.

The North East Ambulance Service have confirmed two people have been taken to hospital following the incident. A spokesperson said: "We were called at 10:03am to a fire at a retail premises on Stamfordham Road, Westerhope. We sent three emergency ambulances, one clinical team leader and two Hazardous Area Response Team vehicles. Two patients have been transported to the Royal Victoria Infirmary."

Services have now confirmed two people made their own way to hospital as well as the two who were transported to the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We received our initial call at 10.05am and immediately deployed our crews to the incident.

“Our first appliance was on scene in just four minutes and upon arrival they found a commercial premises on fire.

“We administered emergency first aid to two people already outside of the building and immediately began work to extinguish the fire.

“In total three appliances attended the scene and the fire was fully extinguished a short time later.

“A cordon is in place in the area and we will support Northumbria Police with their investigation into the circumstances around the incident.”

The road closure is from the junction of Stamfordham Road and West Denton Way to the junction of Newbiggin Lane.

Calls were initially made just after 10am on Tuesday, May 23 with a Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “At 10.05am today we were alerted to a report of a fire at a premises on Stamfordham Road, Newcastle.

“Officers and emergency services attended the scene and four people were taken to hospital, two suffering from serious injuries.

“An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched and at this time officers are treating it as suspected arson.

“The fire has since been extinguished but a cordon remains in place and additional officers remain in the area, carrying out door-to-door enquiries and offering reassurance to residents.“Enquiries are on-going into the incident and anyone with any CCTV footage or information is asked to dial 101 or report via our website’s ‘Tell us Something’ function, quoting log NP-20230523-0301.”

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