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A huge fire in a derelict church on a busy Birmingham street led to road closures. The fire broke out in the defunct Stratford Road Baptist church in Sparkbrook, close to the junction with Palmerston Road in the early hours with the fire service called shortly before 3am on Saturday, October 5.
BirminghamLive reported on the state of the church back in 2022 – when it was said to be in need of ‘major refurbishment’. Six fire engines and a hydraulic platform, with some 30 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze.
West Midlands Fire Service Tweeted: “We currently have around 30 Firefighters dealing with an incident involving a derelict church in Sparkbrook, Birmingham. Road closures are in place along the A34 Stratford Rd, from Palmerston Rd, to Mole St. Essential journeys will require alternative routes. Updates to follow.” The road closures led to ‘heavy traffic’ in the area according to traffic service, Inrix.
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The A34 Stratford Road was closed from the A41 Walford Road and Mole Street to allow firefighters to carry out their work. The incident was initially treated as ‘persons reported’ as if there could be people inside, in case rough sleepers may have been using the site.
The building was searched thoroughly and the message that ‘all persons were accounted for’ came in at 5.50am. A spokeswoman for West Midlands Fire Service said: “We received the initial call at 2.52am.
“The fire was in the upper floor of a two-storey derelict church – a former Baptist church. Thirty per cent of the first floor and 60 per cent of the roof were affected by fire.
“We tackled the fire with 30 firefighters, using one high platform and main hose reel jets. That has now been scaled down to just one pump. The stop message on active firefigting was received at 8.30am. A gas engineer is in attendance and was unable to isolate the gas. Our crew is just there with the gas people, Cadent, now.”
