The fire at the BAE Systems Devonshire Dock Hall at its Barrow-in-Furness site, a key defence industrial facility that manufactures nuclear-powered submarines for the UK Royal Navy’s, is being treated as an “isolated” incident.
The fire, which was reported at 00:44am on 30 October 2024, saw people in the local community advised to stay indoors, and motorists passing close to the site told to keep windows shut, air vents closed and to “turn off fans”, according to Cumbria Police.
Cumbria Police stated at 8:15am on 30 October that “there was no nuclear risk”, with Cumbria Fire and Rescue “likely to have appliances on site” for much of the day.
In a social media post in the early hours of 30 October Cumbria police described the fire as “significant”, with local people advised to stay indoors. This has since been amended to ask residents to keep doors and windows closed.
However, the incident is understood to be being treated as isolated, as it did not spread across the whole of the BAE Systems facility.
A BAE Systems spokesperson, providing a further updated in the early evening of 30 October to Naval Technology, said emergency services had “stood down their major incident response” to the fire.
“We’d like to thank all the agencies involved for their assistance in dealing with the fire at the Devonshire Dock Hall and the local community for their ongoing support and patience as the incident was managed throughout the day.
“All personnel were safely evacuated and our employees who were treated in hospital have been released.”
The spokesperson said the area affected by the fire was accessible for “essential personnel only”, the remainder of the location was operational.
“Until a full investigation has been completed, it would be inappropriate to comment further about the cause or potential impact of the incident,” the spokesperson added.
Fire impact on UK submarine programmes to be determined
The BAE Systems site is the sole UK manufacturing facility for nuclear-powered submarines in the UK and is currently nearing the end of the Astute programme to deliver seven new SSNs to the Royal Navy. In addition, the site is also building the first of four future Dreadnought-class SSBNs, which will house the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent.
It is unknown what impact, if any, the fire will have on the build of Astute Boat 7 (HMS Agincourt) and Dreadnought Boat 1 (HMS Dreadnought). Astute Boat 6, HMS Agamemnon, was recently lowered into the water outside the Devonshire Dock Hall as it nears its entry into service.
(Edit note: this article was updated to include new comments from BAE Systems.)
