Five adults and six children escape house fire in Smethwick as man and baby taken to hospital

A man and a baby were taken to hospital after the fire in Astbury Avenue, which broke out on the first floor of a two-storey mid-terraced property on Monday afternoon.

Fire crews rushed to the blaze shortly after 4.30pm and found the building "heavily smoke-logged".

Four fire engines, three 4×4 brigade response vehicles and an aerial hydraulic platform were called to the scene.

A total of five adults and six children had already freed themselves from the property before fire crews arrived.

Firefighters treated one man who was suffering from smoke inhalation and minor burns with oxygen therapy and a child for "minor smoke inhalation", before handing both over to paramedics.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "We were called to reports of a property fire on Astbury Avenue in Smethwick at 5pm.

"An ambulance was sent to the scene where, on arrival, crews found there were two patients requiring assessment: a man and a baby. They were both checked by ambulance staff and conveyed to City Hospital."

Fire crews cordoned off Astbury Avenue until around 7pm on Monday, with residents urged to avoid the area.

A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service added: "Firefighters extinguished the fire and checked two neighbouring properties for further fire spread but both were confirmed clear.

"Crews damped down and left the incident at 9.35pm."