Factory Fire, Erdington
Multiple crews called to significant Erdington factory fire, Birmingham
Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Birmingham, UK
Shortly after 3.20pm on Thursday (17 July), we responded to Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Erdington. We currently have 12 fire engines, 3 4×4 brigade response vehicles and a hydraulic aerial platform at the scene. A fire engine from Tamworth Fire Station (Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service) is also in attendance. More resources are likely to be mobilised. This is a fire in a factory, which is not currently affecting The Fort shopping centre which is nearby. Please avoid the area if possible, and close your doors and windows if you’re in an area affected by smoke. This is a significant incident. Commuters are urges to plan their journeys accordingly. Further updates will follow.
Updates for this incident
The fire is contained in a two-storey steel frame sports equipment factory. The entire roof and first floor have been affected by fire. Site personnel have confirmed a full roll call has been completed and everyone has been accounted for, Firefighters in breathing apparatus are working across multiple sectors to prevent fire spread. The hydraulic aerial platform is in use. An emergency evacuation point has been set up on Wood Lane and a cordon has been erected by police colleagues. Road Closures: Wood Lane is closed at the junction with Bromford Lane, Tyburyn Road, and Wingfoot Way. Wingfoot Way is closed at the junction with Fort Parkway. Holly Lane is closed at the junction with Tyburn Road.
Over 100 firefighters have been tackling the fire and are being assisted by drone operations, high volume pumping units and hydraulic aerial platforms. We continue to work with colleagues from West Midlands Police and West Midlands Ambulance Service. Our priority remains to bring the fire under control.
A plan is being formulated to begin scaling down our presence at this incident, with the fire now under control. Over 70 firefighters remain at the incident ground. Road closures remain in place, and we expect to be at this incident for a considerable length of time.
Good progress continues to be made and the fire is fully surrounded. 13 jets are in operation and two hydraulic aerial platforms are in use. A high-volume pump is also in operation. Cordons and road closures remain in place.
Eight fire engines and two 4×4 brigade response vehicles remain at this incident as we continue working to extinguish this fire. The electrical supply to the building has been isolated and the smoke plume has significantly reduced.
Around 40 firefighters and seven fire engines will monitor this incident overnight. Two hydraulic aerial platforms remain in use as work continues to fully extinguish the fire. Road closures remain in place.
Five fire engines and around 25 firefighters remain at this incident, extinguishing hotspots. Throughout the night, crews made good progress damping down multiple hotspots across the site. This work will continue throughout the day. Two hydraulic platforms remain in operation. Crews are monitoring ground temperatures using thermal imaging cameras. All road closures have been lifted. We’d like to thank the public for their understanding and co-operation as we worked to bring a very large incident under control. We continue to work with the site owner and police colleagues, who are assisting with traffic management. At present, only emergency services personnel can access the site.
Crews remain on site working to fully extinguish the fire. A structural engineer has been at the site and is making an assessment of the building. He has been supported by drone operations. Previous instructions for business owners on attending the site have been removed. Crews are working with them to remove personal belongings and other salvageable assets.
The high volume pump is no longer in use at this incident. Crews continue to work to fully extinguish this fire using hose reels. A hydraulic aerial platform remains in operation.
Our fire investigators believe that the fire started accidentally, and was electrical in nature.
Unless otherwise indicated, all incident imagery and media displayed by West Midlands Fire Service is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
We're on WhatsApp!
It's free to join and is one-way and opt-in, so you can stay informed on your terms.
You can even forward messages to your friends and family to help keep our community safe!