Thick smoke billowed through a Heaton street on Thursday night as a fire broke out in an outhouse.
Several fire engines were called to the back lane of Sackville Road, Heaton, just after 5pm, after smoke was seen coming from an outbuilding at the back of a set of Tyneside flats.
The flames did not appear to have reached the residential buildings, at the intersection with Stanmore Road, but caused significant damage to the outbuilding.
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It was left blackened and burnt on the outside with a hole visible in the roof, from which smoke could still be seen for around an hour after firefighters arrived.
Although it's believed no one was hurt in the fire, it alarmed many of the neighbours who gathered around the cordon on Thursday night.
Onlookers Margaret Hume arrived at the scene around 5.30pm, after her husband smelled the smoke from their nearby home.
By around 6pm, Margaret said: “It’s still smouldering away. The fire service were here when we arrived, at first we thought it was coming from across the road but then we saw the smoke coming from the garage at the back of the flats.”
Another neighbour told Chronicle Live: "The smoke was very dark - I had to put my mask on when I went out into the garden because you couldn’t breathe.
"It was black and it was pouring out.
"It was so horrible. It really went up - it makes you wonder how it started.”
Firefighters left the scene at around 6.30pm, having succeeded in putting out all the smoke.
The North East Ambulance Service was called to the scene, but paramedics were later stood down after it became clear there had been no casualties.
