|
|
Follow us
Major incident declared as 100 fire fighters tackle major fire in derelict factories in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK
A major incident has been declared, with more than 100 fire fighters tackling a huge overnight fire which has torn through several derelict factories, leading to the evacuation of homes on Monday, 5 December 2022. The fire on a site off Lower Horseley Fields in Wolverhampton, which is near houses and railway lines, also saw all trains stopped shortly after it was reported at about 21h00pm on Monday, West Midlands Fire Service said. Such was the amount of smoke, nearby residents had to be evacuated to two leisure centres, while others have been warned to keep windows closed.
The efforts of fire crews throughout the evening and into the early hours have seen the incident scaled back, with five fire engines and two aerial platforms at the scene on Tuesday morning. At its height, 28 fire engines were on the scene, with the brigade using a thermal imaging drone to identify hotspots in the blaze, which at one stage covered a fifth of a square kilometre. Water had to be pumped from the nearby canal, near the junction where the old main line and Wyrley and Essington canals meet. In a statement issued on Monday night, West Midlands Fire Service said, "Good progress is being made at the factory fire, with all the day crews now relieved, so that five fire engines, two hydraulic platforms and our incident command unit can remain in place. An open water supply is being drawn from a local canal to help with extinguishing the fire and knocking down the smoke plume. We are working closely with Network Rail, Cadent engineers, West Midlands Police and Walsall Council Highways. Multi-agency briefings have been taking place and a demolition plan is being created for the safe removal of a structurally unstable perimeter wall." Although train services have resumed, West Midlands Fire Service has confirmed that Willenhall Road near to the disused building on Lower Horseley Fields remains shut while bus services 82 and 529 are diverted in both directions via Deans Road and Wednesfield Road. Nathan Fletcher, from Cannock, Staffordshire, said, “We were held up by the cordon on Lower Walsall Street just before 10pm last night (Monday), shortly before police started moving the cordon further back. Speaking to other residents, there was a concern of possible spread to the very near BOC Gas, an industrial gases supplier. As this was within the first hour of the incident, floods of emergency response vehicles were arriving on scene and a large presence of West Midlands Ambulance Service. Road closures and rail disruptions were continuing for passengers and commuters through the rush hour on Tuesday. Source: PA News Agency, Express and Star |
|
