Firefighters remain at the scene of a large blaze near the M1 this morning as the public are urged to stay away.
The blaze is located on the Blackisland Road in Annaghmore, Co Armagh, with police confirming the road was closed last night.
The Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service have confirmed they received a call at 10pm on August 6 alerting them to a large quantity of hay bales on fire.
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This morning, NIFRS Group Commander Paul Gould told Belfast Live: "We are still there, this is an ongoing incident on the Blackisland Road near Portadown.
"This is a fire involving a large quantity of hay and for fire crews the operations are still ongoing and they will continue this morning. We would ask the public to stay away from the area while we try to resolve the incident."
Last night NIFRS Area Commander, Mark Smith, said they had six pumping appliances at the site, two of which are foam jets. There were also two large water tankers and a high volume pump tackling the blaze.
He said there were four officers in attendance, as well as roughly 55 personnel. As the fire is ongoing, he has asked for people to stay away from the area as crews work extremely hard to extinguish the blaze.
People living nearby told Belfast Live they heard a "large explosion" in the area at around 10pm as the fire took hold. Dramatic images from the scene show flames lighting up the sky.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the PSNI said: "Motorists are advised that the Black Island Road, Portadown, is currently closed due to a large fire in the area.
"The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are currently in attendance. Please seek an alternative route for your journey."
A tweet from Trafficwatch NI at 11.13pm on Saturday said: "#CoArmagh - Motorists are advised that the Black Island Road, Portadown, is currently closed due to a large fire in the area.
"The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue are currently in attendance. (23:13)"
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