Tunnel fire under control as major incident declared

A fire in a tunnel which was declared a major incident by emergency services has been brought under control.

Ten fire engines and four specialist appliances were called to the scene shortly before 14:00 BST on Thursday after a vehicle caught fire in the Conwy Tunnel on the A55, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said.

There were no fatalities, the fire service said, and it urged people living nearby to keep windows and doors closed as a precaution due to smoke in the area.

The tunnel will remain closed in both directions for some time due to the scale of the incident and the need for ongoing safety assessments, it added.

"Detailed inspections will need to be carried out to determine the extent of any damage before the tunnel can be safely reopened," the fire service said.

The crane lorry was the only vehicle affected and fire crews left the scene shortly before 20:00 BST.

About 40,000 vehicles a day on average pass through the tunnel.

Diversions are in place and the roads in and around the Colwyn Bay, Conwy, Llanrwst and Betws-y-Coed areas are extremely busy, it added, including nearby villages.

Arriva Buses Wales said all five of its services would be terminating at Dwygyfylchi, Conwy, until further notice, adding it could not serve Deganwy, Conwy or Llandudno.

Deborah Owen-Smith and husband Andrew were travelling from Llandundo to the Caernarfon area when they were caught up in the Conwy tunnel incident.

"As we entered the tunnel we could see white smoke and I thought: this doesn't look good," Ms Owen-Smith, who was in the passenger seat, said.

"As we got closer we could see flames under the engine - on the tarmac - it was really scary," she added.

They were able to get past the mobile crane and get out of the tunnel, but she said it felt "awful" not to be able to stop and help.

"Thankfully from what I can see the crane driver got everybody out of the tunnel -he saved a lot of lives - he told everyone the vehicle was on fire and to leave," she said.

"I tried to ring the police and keep moving. Police cars were passing on in the opposite direction within a minute," Ms Owen-Smith said.

Eira D'Arcy, 73, was travelling to a caravan park near Llanfwrog on Anglesey with her husband when they found themselves behind the vehicle involved.

"We had entered the tunnel in the nearside lane when the traffic abruptly stopped in our lane," she said.

"I noticed about four cars ahead that a lorry was stationary and had small flames underneath it.

"We could see heavy white smoke and needed to drive through it and we were concerned in case something exploded, so we needed to get out as soon as possible."

She said someone who appeared to be the driver was on the nearside, away from his vehicle, coming towards them on his phone to what she presumed were the emergency services.

No other vehicle was involved or stopped, she said.

"We managed to pass and it was a relief to be safely out of the tunnel."