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Two people were taken to hospital after a major fire broke out early Wednesday morning at the BAE Systems shipyard in northwest England, where the British defense company builds nuclear submarines.
Cumbria Police said the “large fire” was first reported at 12.44am at the building. BAE system site at the port of Barrow-in-Furness, adding that “there is no nuclear risk”.
Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service attended the scene. Cumbria Police said in an update at 8.15am that people living nearby were no longer advised to stay indoors but “there are still notices to close doors and windows”.
Two people taken to the hospital were suspected of smoke inhalation. BAE Systems said on Wednesday that one was later released.
The company said in a statement that it was “working with the emergency services to tackle the fire at our site in Barrow-in-Furness”.
BAE said the area around Devonshire Dock Hall, the main indoor submarine complex where Royal Navy ships are built, had been evacuated and everyone was present.
The company said it had no immediate information about the cause of the fire. The Ministry of Defense said it was “working closely with the emergency services and BAE Systems” following the fire and that it was too early to say what the cause was.
Defense sources said there was no indication yet that the fire could have been caused by sabotage or terrorism, but it was still early days.
Earlier this month, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, the UK’s domestic intelligence service, said that Russian military intelligence was on a “long-term mission to create chaos” on British streets , use “arson, vandalism. . . and dangerous acts are committed with increasing recklessness,” often through recruited proxies.
Photos on social media showed flames and smoke above Devonshire Dock Hall.
Barrow Shipyard is where BAE builds Britain’s nuclear-powered Astute-class attack ships. The company earlier this month launched its sixth Astute submarine, HMS Agamemnon. The seventh and final ship, HMS Agincourt, is being built at this site.
Barrow is also where the company is building the latest Dreadnought-class ships that will carry Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent and are expected to replace Vanguard submarines in the early 2030s.
This site dominates the town and employs about 10,000 people. BAE has ramped up recruitment in recent months to work on new submarine programs for the Royal Navy, as well as under the trilateral Aukus pact with the US and Australia to build submarines for Canberra.
The company said it expects the plant’s workforce to eventually grow to about 17,000 people by the beginning of the next decade. The UK said last year it would invest more than £3bn in its nuclear defense business over the next two years to help build capacity and support the delivery of Aukus.
