GROUP manager Paul Curran, of Tyne and Wear fire and rescue, tackled the fire which broke out at the Northumbria University campus last night.

Speaking from the scene, he told assistant news editor, MATT WESTCOTT, just what firefighters were faced with.

What was the scene like when you arrived?

"When crews came on scene, basically, the whole building was alight. Because of the wind conditions and the burning embers, that subsequently spread to four or five other smaller premises which we have had to deal with as well.

"The structure that was initially involved was 100 per cent destroyed. We are not able to get anywhere near it because of the dangerous condition of the scaffolding around it.

"There is also a tower crane in the centre of it which has been affected as well, so we are keeping all the crews away from the immediate building.

"There are no injuries that have been reported. It looks like there hasn't been anybody on scene for a while with it being the holidays.

"We are not going anywhere near the building until we can render the structure safe."

Are you able to say how the fire might have started?

"It's probably going to be very, very difficult to ascertain a cause because of the seriousness of the damage.

"We have had around 60 fire personnel on the scene and we have brought two aerial ladder platforms in which can operate monitors from high level.

"The other crews have been employed trying to sort out the adjoining fires that we have had.

"Because of the complexity of the buildings and their close proximity, it has been quite difficult to gain access to roof spaces.

"We have had the police helicopter overhead which has done a full sweep of the premises of New Bridge Street using its thermal imaging equipment and they gave us the all-clear.

"There is a slight bit of damage to the university building across the road, but it is only superficial, glass panels that have been damaged by radiant heat."

What is the status of the fire?

"It is under control and we are starting to damp down. We are starting to get appliances away and we will be looking to get New Bridge Street back open, certainly before the traffic in the morning.

"It is quite a busy commuter route and the police have asked if we could possibly get it open by the morning.

"We will probably have at least one or two appliances here most of the night, just keeping a check on the building. Obviously, we will be working with the police to keep the building secure, because we don't want anybody inside it.

"We will then start investigating with the police in the morning.

How well has the operation been conducted?

"We have coped very well. It's not something we get every day. But that is why we have got the specialist appliances that we can draw on. With no life risk involved there is no need to actually commit personnel into the building. That makes it easier from that point of view because we are not risking anyone.

"It's a fairly easy one to manage, it's just controlling any potential spread that was the difficulty."