Hickory's Smokehouse fire: NEW PICTURES show devastation after blaze

A total of 15 fire crews were called to deal with the blaze at Hickory's Smokehouse in Wall Heath in the early hours of yesterday morning.

At the peak of the blaze there were 100 firefighters on the scene working to get the fire under control.

The aftermath saw spirals of smoke swirling into the sky throughout the morning, and the building's historic thatched roof reduced to ash.

Today, a new image emerged from inside the ruins of the restaurant, as investigators probed the cause of the fire.

Residents gathered at a cordon set up by fire crews to assess the damage to the popular venue.

The restaurant opened in November last year, replacing iconic nightspot the Kingfisher Club – which once hosted The Drifters and Jimi Hendrix.

Firefighters remained on the scene all day yesterday after being called at 2.30am.

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The cause of the blaze was not known last night and nobody is believed to have been injured.

More than 20 rooms at the adjoining Kingfisher Hotel were evacuated while the A449 was closed in both directions as a result of the blaze.

The owners of Hickory's, which has five branches in total, said they were distraught for their team and the local community.

They said in a statement: "We are absolutely devastated about the news of the fire at our Wall Heath restaurant both for our team and the local community.

"Thankfully no one has been injured in any way and the fire is now under control.

"Firefighters have done an incredible job fighting the blaze and we are just waiting to speak to the police and fire investigation experts to establish the cause.

"We'd like to thank people for all their support so far."

Crews from Brierley Hill and Stourbridge were the first to arrive at the smokehouse, around five minutes after the call at 2.30am.

They were joined by 13 more appliances as smoke billowed out of the roof of the American-style restaurant and high into the sky.

Firefighters used a hydraulic platform as they battled to bring the blaze under control.

By 9.30am, the number of fire crews had been scaled back, but around 40 firefighters continued to deal with the remnants of the blaze at 10.30am and remained at the scene for most of the day.

Station commander Russ Gauden said the crews had carried out 'active firefighting' to try to save the landmark Grade II listed hotel.

Wolverhampton's Fallings Park station commander Mr Gauden said: "It's an iconic building and there's a lot of local history involved there.

"Lots of people have met here and it's a very special place for the community.

"This was a very severe fire and it was important to protect the surrounding buildings and we carried out active firefighting to do that.

"We will be investigating the cause but it's not clear at the moment.

"The outcome was as good as we could have hoped, as we could potentially have also lost the hotel and leisure complex as well."

Area commander Steve Vincent added: "Crews worked tirelessly during hot and difficult conditions to try to save this important business.

"The personnel were requested to get the incident under control without it starting to affect the other properties.

"We had to have a large weight of attack to ensure that this didn't further damage the local community and this valuable business." Kingswinford North and Wall Heath ward councillor Ed Lawrence said: "Very sad to wake to the newsabout Hickory's. We will be offering all the support we can."

His colleague Nicola Richards said: "Absolutely terrible news about Hickorys in Wall Heath, it's a great addition to our community."

Anne Whitehead, whose home is just around the corner from the restaurant, said the flames started to fully take hold of the restaurant around 4am.

She said: "The firefighters were trying their best to save the thatch but when it caught hold of that it just went up.

"Then black smoke started coming out and there was popping and banging.

"The firefighters worked so hard.

The chain's other outlets are in Chester, Rhos-on-Sea, West Kirkby and Burton Green. Police officers were at the closed A449/Kidderminster Road, along with workers from the Environment Agency, National Grid and Western Power.

The roads were back open by around 4pm.