Crews remain at site of major Wolverhampton blaze that involved number of active business units

A major Wolverhampton fire involved a number of factory units with some containing active businesses, it has been confirmed.

Crews are still working at the scene days after a major incident was declared

Crews revealed the major incident involved some active businesses after it was initially reported the fire was contained to derelict factory units.

Several roads including Willenhall Road, near to the building where the blaze broke out in Lower Horseley Fields on Monday, remains shut three days later.

Willenhall Road is closed between Shakespeare Street and Walsall Street, junction with The Harp Inn.

Lower Walsall Street is also closed between Lower Horseley Fields and Hickman Avenue. Diversions are in place.

Network Rail engineers had to demolish the wall

Crews are still making good progress, a spokesman said, damping down hotspots and ensuring scene safety. There are currently four fire engines and a single hydraulic platform at the site.

Bosses added liaison with local agencies including West Midlands Police, Network Rail and Walsall Council is continuing to take place, with regular multi-agency briefings.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "We can now confirm that this fire involves a number factory units, some of which contain active businesses, measuring a total of approximately 200m x 200m."

At its height 28 fire engines and more than 100 firefighters were on the scene of the blaze which started at around 9pm on Monday.

Willenhall Road has been closed since the major incident began

Crews also used a thermal imaging drone to identify hotspots in the blaze, which at one stage covered a fifth of a square kilometre. Water was also pumped from the nearby canal to tackle the blaze.

The railway through Wolverhampton reopened yesterday.

Due to the risk of a factory wall collapsing, the railway was closed and train journeys disrupted.

CrossCountry, Avanti and West Midlands Railway were among the operators affected.

Smoke was still visible two days after the blaze

Martin Colmey, Network Rail’s Central route operations director, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we had to close the railway for their safety during this major incident. With the blaze within metres of the railway we had no choice but to close the line.

“Where possible we tried to keep as many services running through diversions but I appreciate travel for people would have been very challenging yesterday. Thankfully the route is now reopen thanks to the hard work of railway staff and West Midlands Fire Service who fought the flames and protected our key infrastructure from any serious damage.”

Passengers travelling along the reopened line on Wednesday morning could see the devastation caused by the blaze.

Marketing executive Laurianne Dudgeon passed the site at 8.50am on her morning commute and was shocked at the extent of the fire.

She said: "My train went directly past where the factory fire was, firefighters were still at the scene. Smoke was still present, but the area covered by the fire was quite large."