Families evacuated in gas alert

A young family and elderly man have been re-housed after a burning Victorian slag heap was discovered by gas workers yesterday in the rear garden of a house in Princes Road, Tividale.

Experts said it was likely the fire had been burning for several weeks.

At first it was thought the underground blaze, which can be spotted by smoke rising from the ground, involved a coal seam.

Fire crews and the coal authority took no risks and decided to move people living either side of the vacant property.

The new alert comes just a week after an inquest highlighted the need for urgent checks for dangers from carbon monoxide gas in the uncharted network of mines beneath the region, it has been revealed.

The dangers came to light after James and Molly Mcdonald, both aged 74, were killed by carbon monoxide fumes released when builders drilled into an old mine under their house at Bell Road, Netherton.

Now Government officials are being asked to investigate the risk to other families across the West Midlands.

Today Divisional Officer Steve Vincent of Oldbury Fire Station said the Tividale fire had started as a result of spontaneous combustion. Although it was possible there could have been an explosion, he said everyone was satisfied there was no immediate danger.

"We are going to have to excavate it, to dig the fire out because putting water on it will only make it worse," he added.

Constant checks of carbon monoxide levels in the air are being taken by the Mine Rescue Service - it was the gas responsible for the deaths of two children on holiday in Corfu last month - and Mr Vincent said every possible precaution is being taken.

"There is carbon monoxide in the air," he said. "It's an invisible and odourless gas and we are re-housing people just as a precaution against it.

"The fire isn't part of a coal seam. This is about landfill or re-used earth from the 1800's and it has coal as part of it."

He added that they hoped to know by the end of the day exactly how they were going to tackle the problem. Colin Knipe of land consultants JPB said they would carry out some investigations before deciding what course of action to take.

"This mound, as with many other mining mounds, was warm and every now and then they can flare up. This has been going for a number of weeks."

Those evacuated from their homes have yet to be be told when it will be safe for them to return. Neighbour Dave Middleton said he had never known anything like it before.

"I have heard about underground fires before but never seen one first hand," he said. "My wife was a bit worried at first but checks were carried out and we have been told there is nothing to worry about."

It is thought the whole of the back garden will have to be dug up to remove and put out the fire.

By Richard Wyatt