A man suffered burn injuries when a fire ripped through a builder’s yard in Smethwick. Seventy firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze in King Street on New Year’s Day, with crews remaining on site for more than eight hours.
The 999 call came in just before 1.45pm on Wednesday, January 1, reporting a fire in a timber-built storage structure. Flames also reached a nearby caravan and building materials.
There was one casualty, with the believed to have been taken to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital with burn-related injuries. Downing Street and Cornwall Road were closed while crews extinguished the fire.
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West Midlands Fire Service crews, who worked with representatives from Severn Trent Water, the Environment Agency and West Midlands Police at the scene, left at around 10pm. A fire service spokesperson said: “At the height of this fire, 40 firefighters wearing breathing apparatus and 12 fire appliances were in attendance. Drone operations supported firefighters.
“We scaled down this incident and left the scene at around 10pm, visiting a further three times to check for hotspots. After the third revisit, the site was handed back to the owner following a thorough handover.”