Thousands of Walsall homes left without power after gas cannister blaze near M6 started deliberately
A major fire which involved an exploding gas cannister which left 22,000 homes without power is believed to have been started deliberately.
Firefighters from Wolverhampton, West Bromwich and Walsall rushed to wasteland on Bentley Mill Way, near Junction 10 of the M6, on Wednesday.
The fire service received a string of 999 calls about the blaze, which involved an exploding gas cannister and a "wooden storage structure" on the land.
It is believed around 10,000 homes were left without power during the incident near a National Grid substation. It is also believed the fire was started deliberately.
A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: "We had several 999 calls and some of the calls included people saying they had lost power in the area. The fire involved gas cylinders on waste land. Firefighters used main jets rather than hose reels to bring the fire under control.
"Because they were in a potentially dangerous area, it soon became apparent when they got there they were having to fight the fire and cool a number of other cylinders down – and all from a safe distance for their own personal safety.
"One cylinder had exploded before they got there and that had impacted the overhead power lines there and it's my understand that meant homes in the local area lost power."
National Grid said the power cut was caused by exploding cannisters which blew "a door" into a substation on social media. The nearby Boundary Outlet had to be evacuated.
A spokesman for the organisation said: "There was an incident in the Bentley area at 5pm which affected just over 22,000 customers. There was a report of a small fire locally which tripped two of our circuits. All customers were restored within 10 minutes. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Lily Cross, part time employee at Boundary Outlet, said: “I was sitting in the staffroom around 5pm this evening when there was this massive flash from outside and a huge bang that shook the foundations of the building.
“We were then left in total darkness, we were all terrified honestly, we didn’t know what to think, and there was so much panic.
"It’s all a bit blurry after that, me and my colleagues just knew we had to get ourselves and our customers out, many elderly usually shop there and their safety was paramount.”
West Midlands Police has confirmed it will be investigating. National Grid has been contacted for comment.
