'It was difficult to breathe': Residents in shock as 50 firefighters battle Oldbury blaze near their homes

Fifty firefighters, eleven fire engines and two hydraulic platforms all banded together to tackle a blaze which broke out on Rood End Lane in Oldbury in the early hours of the morning.

By 5pm, fire crews largely brought the blaze under control after working on it since 5.30am, though the local fire service shared that the incident is deemed to be ‘ongoing’.

The fire is believed to have broken out at a windows manufacturing factory, and that building is deemed to be “structurally unsafe to enter”, though the fire service said that they’ve made “good progress on scene and have brought the fire under control”.

Rood End Road in Oldbury has been closed for much of the day.

West Midlands Fire Service said: “Crews continue to make good progress on scene and have brought the fire under control. Our efforts are focused on fully extinguishing hot spots before an investigation into the cause can begin.

“As the building is structurally unsafe to enter our firefighters are continuing to tackle the fire externally and are expected to remain on scene throughout today (Saturday 23 May).

“Residents are still being advised to avoid the area with a significant cordon still in place to enable our crews and partner agencies to continue their work safely.”

The Express & Star were at the scene early in the day speaking to the fire crew and residents.

Residents expressed shocked at the fire and are advised to keep their windows closed and expressed worry for their health.

In response to this concern, Sandwell Council assured residents that health risks from asbestos debris are low, but advises on safe handling and disposal methods.

Sandwell Council said in a statement that the premises may have had an asbestos cement roof.

The council said that it was possible that some of these materials may have been released in the smoke plume and deposited in ash and debris on a section of Pel Crescent.

However, the UK Health Security Agency advises that the health risk is low because asbestos fibres are usually trapped within the material and are not easily released into the air.

Sandwell Council will be assessing the situation and arranging for decontamination of the area – likely early next week.

If debris must be moved urgently, residents should:

• Dampen it with water first
• Avoid sweeping or vacuuming
• Wear gloves
• Double-bag larger pieces before disposing of them
• Avoid mowing lawns if dust is present until it has been cleared

Anyone experiencing symptoms such as breathing difficulties, coughing, or watery eyes should contact their GP or NHS 111.

At the scene, Gemma McSweeney, Area Commander at West Midlands Fire Service had said: “The smoke in the area will be spreading around. It's quite a windy day today.

“That's the advice we say to residents — keep the windows and doors closed where you can.”

Speaking from the scene, she added: “We were called to a fire in a large industrial area about half 5 this morning.

“We've got a total of 10 fire engines and two of our hydraulic platforms that came straight to the scene. We're making really good progress and we've been able to contain the fire now just to that industrial unit without any further spread. “I'm pleased to be able to say as well that there's no casualties and no injuries involved.”

”The smoke should start to dissipate and become a lot lower. It should remain much more contained within the area.

“We are likely to have a presence here for the remainder of the day. This area will be closed, Rood End Road. We're not likely to expand that — if anything, we should reduce that.”

Resident Ranesh Bhutta said he woke up early due to the commotion caused by the fire incident.

He said: "I was awoken up at about 10 to 5, with loud noises. It was just popping off everywhere.

“I looked out the window and it was just a massive fire everywhere.

“I was extremely worried, didn't know what it was whether it was a house or whether it was a factory.

"Out of our window we couldn't really tell it was a factory. And I was just concerned it was one of the residents' houses on the estate.”

For Ranesh said there was a fire in the area previously but not to this scale.

He said: "There was a major fire, in the industrial estate a couple of years ago. Nothing as close to home as this.

“We've had all the windows closed. I’m finding it difficult to breathe now if I’m honest.

"We were going to have a barbecue today, but I don’t think that's going to happen."

An investigation into the cause of the fire is now underway, although officials say it is still too early to determine how the blaze started.