Flat fire, Redwood Road, Yew Tree Estate, Walsall

Yew Tree Estate, Redwood Road, Walsall, UK

At around 10.20pm on Saturday 15th March, firefighters responded to a fire at a residential premises on the Yew Tree estate in Walsall.

A total of 9 fire engines were in attendance, the first arriving within 5 minutes of the initial 999 call.

The incident involved a severe fire in a 2 storey flat above a shop, in a mid terraced block, with persons reported.

Crews in attendance were from Walsall, Aldridge, Bilston, Bloxwich, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury, West Bromwich and Willenhall fire stations. Alongside this a number of officers were mobilised and a member of our specialist drone team was also deployed to support fire crews at the scene.

West Midlands Fire Service were supported by blue light partners from West Midlands Ambulance Service and West Midlands Police. The Red Cross, water, gas and national grid were also in attendance.

During the incident 19 firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property to search for people and extinguish the fire. Nine people have been rescued by firefighters, five of which have been conveyed to hospital by West Midlands Ambulance Service.

The fire started in the hallway on the ground floor, in the entrance to the flat between two shops and then spread upwards. It was brought under control by our crews and is now extinguished. Firefighting crews remained in attendance at the scene during the night and into the early hours of this morning, checking for hot spots and damping down, whilst investigations continue today alongside police colleagues.

Chief Fire Officer Simon Tuhill said ‘this was a significant fire in a block of flats above a shop. On their arrival my firefighters worked extremely hard in really challenging conditions and rescued 4 people from the block via a ladder. Two of these were in critical condition, including a child. Firefighters also assisted a further 4 people from the block. In total WMFS and WMAS treated 10 people for smoke inhalation and they were then taken to hospital. I want to pay tribute to all the WMFS staff who attended the incident. Every day they are willing to put their lives at risk to protect the people of the West Midlands, and this tragic incident is one example of this. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the incident and all those affected. We will have specialist fire investigators at scene who will now work alongside police colleagues to determine the cause of the fire.’