A driver recalled the moment he saw and smelt a "pungent" plume of smoke as a fire developed on a row of houses. 

Appliances from Carlisle East and Carlisle West, were mobilised to reports of a property fire on Linton Street, Carlisle, at approximately 15.05pm on Frriday June 18.

After discovering that the fire was spreading along the roof void of the long terrace of houses, additional support, from Longtown, Brampton, Wigton and Penrith fire stations, was called in.

"There was an unbelieveable amount of smoke," said Andy Lee, 35.

"As they were tackling the fire there was more and more smoke and it was quite pungent.

"I had to close the vents in the car because the smell that was coming into the car was really strong."

Andy, a train driver from Carlisle, was picking his children up from school when he noticed something was happening.

He added: "My boys are both at school, so I left my house at around 2.30pm, but there was no sign of anything. 

"I always park up with plenty of time to spare because my two boys finish at seperate times. 

"It was about 3.20pm [when I first saw the smoke].

"I was going to go straight on to Asda, but everything was blocked off.

"There were two fire engines coming down [the road] and you could see the smoke raising above the hairdressers on the corner and I thought 'that's not good'."

During the incident, 16 breathing apparatus wearers attacked the fire from below, whilst Carlisle East’s aerial ladder platform was used to create fire breaks above, preventing the fire spreading to other properties.

There were no reported injuries during the incident. 

With assistance from the resilience unit, Cumbria Police made arrangements for a community centre to be opened for any welfare for staff and residence.