West Midlands fire crews tackle huge city blaze with smoke seen 15 miles away in Shropshire
More than 100 firefighters from across the West Midlands have been tackling a huge blaze in Wolverhampton overnight.
Smoke from the fire in a disused factory could be seen as far as 15 miles away in Shropshire, as depicted in an aerial photograph.
Train lines are shut including those running west into the county.
Firefighters were called to reports of a large fire near railway lines in Horseley Fields, Wolverhampton, at approximately 9pm last night.
They received multiple 999 calls about the incident, reporting a fire in a disused factory in the inner city area.
Although four fire crews were initially mobilised, on arrival they found a fully developed and rapidly spreading fire involving a number of factories, covering approximately 200 by 200 metres.
This led to an immediate request for further assistance from crews, as well as additional appliances and water supplies.
A spokesperson for West Midlands Fire Service said: "This request resulted in appliances and crews from across the area being mobilised, resulting in there being 20 pumping appliances, four brigade response vehicles, two aerial ladder platforms, a command unit, a high volume pumping unit, an aerial drone, multiple specialist officers and other support vehicles at the scene."
An hour later, a major incident had been declared.
"Firefighters worked in challenging conditions to prevent the fire spreading, and to bring it under control utilising hand held main jets, ground and aerial monitors," the spokesperson added.
"Water was pumped via the high volume pumping unit (HVPU) from a nearby canal.
"Due to the size of the fire and potential risk to firefighters, a number of resources including the hazardous area response team (HART), from West Midlands Ambulance Service were deployed to the scene.
"This incident was clearly visible across the area, with smoke from the incident being seen miles away."
An evacuation of the immediate area was carried out and a number of road closures were put in place by officers from West Midlands Police.
Nearby railway lines have also closed.
There are no reports of any injuries at this time. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
