40 firefighters tackle Black Country scrapyard blaze
Forty firefighters tackled a blaze at a Black Country scrapyard today, battling to prevent it spreading.
Crews were called to the site on Oak Lane, Kingswinford at around 12:30pm today to reports of a blaze involving around 50 metres squared of scrap metal which was in danger of spreading.
Originally, two fire engines from Brierley Hill were sent, however at its height a total of eight were at the scene, coming from Wolverhampton, Bilston, Tettenhall and Dudley.
There were two seats of fire found by firefighters and at one point the blaze nearly spread to a nearby piece of machinery worth around £1 million, according to West Midlands Fire Service spokesman Warren Davies.
Mr Davies said: "Crews were called at around 12:30pm and the need for more assistance was quickly recognised.
"At its height eight appliances were at the scene.
"Due to the location of the site, getting water to our engines was an issue, however this was rectified as we got the fire under control.
"Thankfully crews managed to stop the fire spreading to nearby machinery that was worth around £1 million.
"This was done using tools on site.
"The fire was put out by 3:30pm but crews stayed on site to dampen it down."
At present, there is no explanation as to how the fire started but enquiries are ongoing.
West Midlands Police were also called to the scene to facilitate road closures at both ends of Oak Road, at Stalling's Lane and Hamm Lane.
Due to the closures, a number of travellers were left unable to access the Oak Lane Traveller Site while the blaze was being tackled.
The site, which is owned and managed by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, contains 22 pitches for caravans, 21 of which are for rent with the remaining pitch being occupied by a full time residential warden.
The blaze follows on from a scrapyard fire at EMR Scrapyard in Wolverhampton in April, which became engulfed by flames which could be seen for miles around as 20 firefighters attempted to get it under control.
That fire was the second at a West Midlands EMR scrapyard in just a matter of weeks.
At the end of March the EMR yard in Saltley, Birmingham, went up with huge plumes of smoke visible across the city.
Up to 800 tonnes of metal and plastic were ablaze as more than 100 fire fighters tackled that fire.
