Road remains closed in Wolverhampton after major fire at business park
There is still disruption on Upper Villiers Street in Wolverhampton after a major blaze at a business park in January.
Part of Upper Villiers Street in Wolverhampton has been closed ever since the incident at Imex Business Park.
The blaze erupted in a factory unit on Wednesday 14 January and spread to other units on the site, with smoke seen billowing over the city and as far as the M6 toll road, and nearby residents at the time reported hearing explosions.
Buildings around the unit are still boarded up to this day with road closed signs erected on either side of the section of the road, preventing drivers from accessing that part of the street.
A coach was forced to reverse today (Tuesday 3 March) after realising that the road is still closed off, despite the incident taking place nearly two months ago.
Wolverhampton Council has issued an order preventing vehicles from proceeding on Upper Villiers Street from the junction of Goldthorn Hill to the junction of Marston Road. It adds that the order may operate for a maximum period of eighteen months, but it is anticipated that the works will be undertaken from 4 March 2026 until 17:00 on 28th March 2026. The diversion route is: Goldthorn Hill, Penn Road, Marston Road and vice versa.
The council says that the order is in place to allow demolition works by Lpd Demolition. When asked about the timeline of the demolition, Lpd Demolition told the Express and Star: "We don't have a start date yet".
At its height, more than 21 fire service vehicles were reported to be taking part in a major operation to tackle the blaze, with three hydraulic platforms and scores of firefighters working to douse the flames.
Residents spoke to the Express and Star at the time about seeing their skyline lit up by a 'hellish' orange flame as fire service relief crews worked at the scene. Mr Matt Walker, a resident of the area, said of the fire at the time: "I've never seen anything like it. It's quite bad. It's almost hellish, really."
The fire service confirmed that there were no injuries or deaths. A number of businesses in and around the industrial estate managed to escape unscathed from the fire. However in some cases they were not able to open due to external building concerns and direction from West Midlands Fire Service.
