Express & Star

Cause of major Wolverhampton blaze to remain a mystery due to danger of site

The cause of a severe fire which tore through a former warehouse and gym in Wolverhampton is to remain unknown due to safety concerns.

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The scene of the fire off Craddock Street in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton. Photo: West Midlands Fire Service

The blaze engulfed The Grasshopper Building in Whitmore Reans and required 13 fire engines and between 70 and 80 firefighters to tackle.

It left the building gutted and residents close to the incident had to be evacuated in the early hours of Monday.

Following the incident a Fire Investigations Unit was at the scene and work has been underway to try to find the cause.

However, despite their best efforts, the building has been deemed too dangerous to examine, meaning the cause of the fire will remain unknown.

A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: "Despite the best efforts of our fire investigators, the remains of the building in Whitmore Reans that caught fire on Monday were too dangerous to enter.

Fire gutted the Grasshopper building

"The scene can't be examined safely, so how the fire started will remain unknown."

Following the incident residents described hearing crackling and feeling an immense heat from the blaze.

Fire gutted the Grasshopper building

The fire service described the blaze as 'a difficult one to tackle' but they did get on top of it scale it down at around 3.30am after it was reported at around 1am.

Police and paramedics were also sent to the scene but nobody was hurt during the incident.

The steel-framed warehouse included offices and belonged to the Grasshopper baby clothing company before becoming an Xercise4Less gym in 2014.

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