30 firefighters tackle fifth blaze in 15 months at former Sandwell College

West Midlands Fire Service were called shortly after 6pm to the Crocketts Lane site.

They sent six crews, around 30 firefighters, and quickly got the fire under control.

However because of past fires at the site - this is the fifth since August last year - WMFS confirmed the building was not safe for firefighters to enter until the smoke had cleared.

Speaking to the Express & Start shortly before 8pm, Station Commander Westley Williams said: "As you know we have had quiet a few previous fires here. We had initially six pumps at the incident with a total of 10 breathing apparatus wearers.

"We have a main jet and two main hose reels which were in use. They are making good progress on the fire and at the moment they are using positive pressure ventilation to pump the smoke through and make sure they are dampening down and the fire is totally out.

"It is under control at the moment and dampening down. We should not be here too long.

"It is getting to the point where we will carry out an assessment then start scaling down the incident.

"We have had a number of different incidents here now and it is getting to the stage where the structure of the building is unsafe so we are not committing firefighters through the building.

"Each incident the structure gets weaker and weaker each time. Floorboards get burnt away and so forth. So the condition of the building is not really safe for our firefighters to go in if it is heavily smoke logged, which is why we are using the positive pressure ventilation to get the smoke out."

The Smethwick campus of Sandwell college closed when college courses were centralised by the opening of a £77m campus in West Bromwich in 2012.

The last fire, which destroyed the roof of the building, was back in September.