Dramatic images show scale of Dudley factory fire damage
Dramatic thermal images have shown the level of damage done to a Dudley factory following a fire which burned through the night.
The West Midlands Police Eye in the Sky team provided the images from above the David Wood Foods bakery processing plant in Dudley. The fire started midday on Friday and was still being tackled by West Midlands Fire Service teams hours later.
The images show parts of the roof having collapsed and areas of the factory in complete ruin after the fire, as well as helping firefighters to know where to best tackle the blaze.
A spokesman for WMP Eye in the Sky said: "Our drone team are currently assisting West Midlands Fire and West Midlands Ambulance Service at a large industrial fire in Dudley.
"Fire are utilising our imaging to formulate strategies on how best to tackle the fire effectively whilst maintaining public safety."
The nearby Peartree Lane was shut with motorists hit by delays in the area while a full site evacuation and roll call was carried out and everyone accounted for.
Smoke could be seen from miles around as crews battled to put out the flames.
The most recent update from the fire service came at 10.26pm on Friday and reported that good progress was being made on the fire, with the smoke plume having reduced in size.
A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: "Really good progress is being made to extinguish the fire at Crackley Way.
"Crews are tackling the blaze from all angles and stopping it from spreading. There is still smoke in the area but the plume has reduced in size and is travelling over industrial areas.
"We are asking people to continue to avoid the area as we work to bring this incident to a safe conclusion.
"People living or working nearby should keep windows and doors closed and stay indoors where possible.
"Pear Tree Lane remains closed and hose lines delivering water may still be causing some disruption to roads.
"We are looking to reduce resources at the incident ground and scale back. West Midlands Ambulance and West Midlands Police are looking to do the same with HART remaining in attendance.
"Firefighting crews will remain on site to ensure the fire is fully extinguished for at least the next 24 hours."