Barking fire: Huge blaze breaks out at warehouse in east London with 125 firefighters at scene

A huge fire has broken out at a warehouse in east London.

Twenty crews are battling the blaze which ripped through a warehouse on Alfreds Way, Barking, just after 6.30pm on Friday night.

Huge plumes of black smoke were spotted billowing across the borough.

Some 125 firefighters are at the scene trying to control the fire, with the police and ambulance also in attendance and a helicopter also reportedly scrambled.

Fire crews from Barking, East Ham, Dagenham, Plaistow,Ilford and surrounding fire stations are at the scene and many are expected to remain overnight.

The London Ambulance Service is urging people living in the area to keep windows and doors shut due to the large amounts of smoke being emitted by the blaze.

A spokesman for the LAS said that there were currently no people who had been treated for injuries.

“We were called at 7.04pm today (15 May) to reports of a fire at an industrial estate on Alfreds Way, Barking,” the spokesman said.

“We dispatched an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and our hazardous area response team (HART) to the scene.

“We haven’t treated anyone at the scene but remain there as a precaution.”

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman told the Standard they were attending a fire in a wholesale warehouse.

There are no further details yet about its cause and whether anyone was injured.

The Brigade said it had taken 80 calls over the blaze and that crews were expected to remain on scene throughout the night.

Nearby residents shared dramatic photographs and footage of the fire.

One tweeted: "Absolutely hug fire in a warehouse in Barking, east London. At least 20 fire engines, 5 or more incident response units. At last 15 police cars and vans, at least 10 ambulances. At least 5 undercover cars racing there. Police helicopter up."

The plumes of smoke could be seen from Woolwich in south east London.

Station Manager Jim Smith who is at the scene said: "A warehouse and an adjoining warehouse are alight. Crews are working hard to prevent the fire spreading.

"Firefighters expect to be on scene throughout the night."