Huge fire in West Bromwich near industrial area: West Midlands Fire Service

A fire was reported shortly after 2.15pm on Friday 19 August in Kelvin Way, West Bromwich but the incident is now closed. Fire fighter crews were on scene until 21 August.

“Our crews are no longer in attendance at this incident. They will be revisiting the site at regular intervals to conduction visual inspections for hot spots,” the West Midlands Fire Service said in the afternoon.

In the morning (August 21) they had a fire engine and 4x4 brigade response vehicle on the site with 10 crew to continue work with thermal imaging cameras. They expect this to continue throughout the day. Kelvin Place has been reopened. An investigation into the cause continues. Less than three hours after this fire was first reported, fire fighters said it was under control.

Staff at the recycling company have been using their own machinery to help fire crews, by creating fire breaks and moving material around the site. The West Midlands Fire Service used a high volume water pumping unit at the scene, and water from a nearby canal has been used on the fire.

West Midlands Fire Service thanked the factory owners for their help, saying: “We are extremely grateful for the co-operation and support we have received from our partners and in particular the recycling plant owners.

“Their support with machinery, equipment and personnel has been extremely beneficial. They will shortly be taking delivery of a JCB excavator to allow hot spots to be reached and dealt with swiftly.”

Teams responded in five minutes after receiving 120 calls to 99 with eight fire engines and some 50 firefighters arriving at the scene. Drivers were warned that the smoke had the potential to affect the nearby M5 motorway.

Eventually, resources were increased to 12 fire engines and 60 firefighters. Large bales of cardboard near a number of industrial units were set alight. “Current estimates are that the fire involves 300 tonnes of compacted, baled cardboard,” West Midlands Fire Service tweeted.

A Twitter user posted an image and said he could see the fire from Blackheath.

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