Smoke-filled streets in scrap fire

Smoke billowed across Bilston when a fire involving vehicles broke out at a scrapyard.

The blaze on Wolverhampton Road was visible for several miles around because of the amount of smoke it generated.

It is believed to have involved two scrap cars and a forklift truck. The fire service say it took place at a scrap yard at the rear of a factory.

It started at around 12.30pm yesterday.

Eye witness Tony Levy said: “I was stood in Mills Road in All Saints and could see it from there, which is obviously miles away.

“I could just see a massive big black cloud of smoke across the Bilston area but I didn’t not what it was, fire engines seemed to be racing past me though to try and get to the scene.” And motorist Gerald Edwards explained: “I was driving down Bilston Road when I just saw a load of black smoke billowing in front of me.

“It was coming across Bilston Road and seemed to be coming from behind some commercial premises. A lot of the cars in front of me slowed down and a lot of people seemed to be keen to see what was going on.

“The fire brigade arrived on the scene pretty quickly I think and seemed to have it all under control,” he added. Wolverhampton fire station crew commander Paul Bainbridge, who attended the blaze said: “It seemed that someone was trying to move a scrap car with a forklift and it must have caused a spark which led to the fire which then spread to another car.”

“Blazes involving vehicles always seem to generate a lot of black smoke because of the tyres which is why there would have been a lot of smoke.”

Jeremy Sharpe, of West Midlands Fire Service, added: “We used two firefighters in breathing apparatus to tackle the fire as well as a water jet. We received notification the the fire had been dealt with just after 1pm.”

There have been a number of scrap yard blazes in the city in recent times.