Arson blamed as fire takes hold at West Bromwich building
Around 20 firefighters battled to extinguish a blaze in a two-storey building at the bottom of a garden in West Bromwich today.
The building is believed to have been a car maintenance workshop in Vicarage Road. The fire broke out at around 2.30am.
Arsonists are thought to be responsible for the blaze at the site, which has been derelict for at least six years.
As crews tried to dowse flames, part of the building started to collapse and debris rained down on Vowles Road, which runs behind Vicarage Road. They also had to deal with asbestos sheets in the roof.
Vicarage Road resident Kiran Deep Hira, aged 29, said: "It was a massive fire. The whole thing was up in flames. It was scary."
Watch commander John Wildman said: "Our best guess is someone has set fire to something combustible inside."
