Arson attack at former home

A suspected arson attack has ravaged a former Great Barr nursing home, with crews working throughout the night to bring the blaze under control.

Firefighters were called to former home The Laurels in Green Lane at 9pm last night were the fire had taken hold of the whole property.

In total 11 fire engines and support vehicles were on scene to fight the fire with eight fire engines, two main jets and a hydraulic platform used to extinguish the flames.

The private home, in the once grand building was home to 22 residents and the site has fallen into disrepair since it was vacated in 2003.

Archie Weldon, spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said:“The building was a traditional two-storey brick building measuring around 30 metres by 20 metres.

“The ground, first floor and roof were all involved in the fire.

“Approximately 30 per cent of the roof was burnt away.”

Crews originally believed that people were in the building - despite it being derelict and four breathing apparatus were used by fire fighters to search inside.

Crews sent a stop message to fire control at 7.30am this morning and are still on scene damping down.

An investigation is set to be launched into the cause of the blaze.

The care home, which has been abandoned for over four years has been targetted by vandals and arsonists in the past.

In December 2005 it was set alight, although damage was limited to the stairway.

Yobs had smashed a hole in the rear of the property to get in and when firefighters arrived they found a large quantity of syringes in the building.

As crews prepared to leave the scene of the fire, he said damage was limited to the ground-floor stairway.

Police at the time said there had been a “series of incidents” at the abandoned home.