'Fly-tipped' sofa set alight in a back lane

An investigation has been launched after a sofa set, believed to be fly-tipped in a Sunderland back lane, caught fire on Wednesday morning.

Two crews from Sunderland Central attended the fire in the back lane of Cairo Street after a nearby resident awoke to see the flames at 6.40am.

Vijayalakshmi Subramani, who is known as VJ, fears the fire could have been much worse had firefighters not arrived when they did.

The 35-year-old mum said: “My son woke up very early. That’s when we noticed. If not, it could have been a big disaster.

“The air vents are melted at my neighbour’s house and it was moments away before it caught fire to the store room and then mine.”

The official cause of the fire is under investigation, but VJ believes the sofa was set alight deliberately after it was dumped in the back lane the day before.

"The fire was caused by fly-tipping of a sofa set. I didn’t see who initiated this fire or who fly-tipped, but I saw yesterday evening those sofas were outside my neighbour’s house,” she added. We have a lot flytipping on our area – it is a problem.

“The fire brigade were here within five minutes. Thanks to them and we really appreciate their timely response.”

A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said: “At 06:40 this morning, we received a report of a sofa on fire outdoors. Two crews from Sunderland Central attended and extinguished the fire, with the incident concluded by 06.48am.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation.”