Council and emergency responders attended to a fire on the balcony of a block of flats in Rowley Regis on Saturday 2 May. The incident was attended by our colleagues in the fire and police services.
Council and emergency responders attended to a fire on the balcony of a block of flats in Rowley Regis on Saturday 2 May. The incident was attended by our colleagues in the fire and police services.
No casualties were reported, and the occupants of the flat were assessed by paramedics and were unharmed.
The property is a council flat and Sandwell’s out of hours service arranged alternative accommodation for the tenant. We will be working to support the tenants to ensure they have the help they need. We were not made aware of any other occupants of the building needing additional support.
Our teams were on-site throughout the afternoon and have checked properties and spoken to residents. Officers returned to the property on Tuesday to provide further reassurance, advice, and guidance to residents. Caretakers have already been on-site to clean up.”
Alan Lunt, Director of Place at Sandwell said:
“I am relieved to hear that the affected residents did not suffer injury, but I know this will have been a hugely distressing experience. We will work to support them and will be communicating with all residents to make sure they have all of the information and guidance we offer so they know how to respond to an emergency.
“We would like to take this moment to reassure residents – especially those in high-rise flats, that Sandwell works hard to ensure that our buildings are safe – even in the very rare circumstances that a fire does break out. All properties have smoke and heat detectors to alert of a fire within a property.
“The fire, whilst terrible for the resident concerned, should give the assurance to other residents that the fire was contained to a single flat, as the structure is designed to, and that West Midlands Fire Service attended very quickly and dealt with the fire promptly.”
“Colleagues from housing were able to take care of the affected tenant immediately, ensuring they were accommodated and we will be following up with them this week to ensure they have the support they need. I’d also like to thank our caretakers who had the block cleaned up over the weekend.”
West Midlands Fire Service commented:
“Shortly after 11.35am on Saturday (2 May), West Midlands Fire Service responded to a fire at Giles Court, Rowley Regis.
“As this was a tall building fire, we mobilised eleven fire engines to the incident, with the first arriving within 5 minutes of being mobilised from Oldbury Fire Station.
“Ten firefighters used breathing apparatus to enter the building and extinguish the fire using main, attack and covering jets. Police and council colleagues were also in attendance, and we are grateful for their assistance to residents of the building.
“We remained on scene into the evening to check the affected property and nearby properties for hotspots.”
Guidance for residents
Residents can find out more about what to do in a similar situation by reading the advice at https://www.sandwell.gov.uk/fire-safety. We hold regular community engagement events, and we encourage all residents to attend when you next see a session advertised.