'It was chaos': Moment emergency crews descended on Manchester street as huge fire erupts

Residents in Manchester have described the chaotic and 'very scary' scenes as emergency crews descended on a huge fire this morning.

The blaze broke out at a commercial unit on Longden Road, on the borders of Gorton and Levenshulme, earlier today (Friday). Huge flames tore through the building as large plumes of thick smoke billowed from the blaze onto surrounding streets.

As a cordon was put in place by fire crews and police, residents on nearby streets were told to keep their windows and doors shut. Some were also reportedly evacuated from their homes.

Neighbours said a huge emergency response descended on the street at around 8am, with one eyewitness describing the scenes as 'chaos' as the fire erupted. Martin, 72, who has lived on Matthews Lane for around 50 years, said: "It was about 8 o’clock, I was on my landing, I looked out and saw big flames rising into the sky and smoke billowing out.

"It was really, thick, black smoke. I came out and could hear the sirens of a fire engine coming up the road. All the traffic had stopped. It was chaos. Next thing they’d cordoned all the streets off."

He said there was another fire at this same complex several several years ago. Ripon Miah, 36, who lives on Newdale Road, said he had been left 'trapped' outside his house after leaving to take his children to school.

He said: "I heard like a popping sound, I looked out and could see fire and lots of smoke. The police spoke to us and said stay inside and keep your windows and doors closed."

He said he left to take his two children - aged three and seven - to school and hasn’t been allowed back in since. "It’s bad, really bad. It’s very scary", he said.

"There’s so many warehouses and so many houses." Ahmed, who works in one of