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In_pictures Birmingham fire: Smoke from Tyseley blaze visible from miles away
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A blaze has broken out at an industrial site, with plumes of smoke visible for miles across Birmingham.
More than 100 firefighters are tackling the “severe” fire at a plastics factory on Tyseley Industrial Estate.
Fire crews said they expected to be dealing with the fire well into the night.
Smoke can be seen in the city centre as well as at Birmingham Airport and in Hall Green and Solihull. People are advised to shut windows and doors.
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West Midlands Fire Service initially said 10 fire engines and specialist appliances were at the fire which broke out early on Monday evening, but more crews were called to the scene as the blaze grew.
Dympna Wilson said there was a lot of black smoke coming from the factory
Dympna Wilson, who lives near the factory said she “definitely heard a couple of explosions”.
“We came out here to look and all we could see was smoke. It was curling out of the eaves, then the flames started and you could hear an explosion.
“You do worry if it could make its way down through the other buildings and affect us all here in the road.
“Some neighbours have lost their electricity. God forbid I hope there’s no one hurt,” she said.
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@simonbangs
Commuters shared pictures of the fire on social media
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@JamesClarke75
Smoke from the fire was pictured about three miles away, in the trendy suburb of Kings Heath
Travel operators reported heavy congestion on the roads in the surrounding area with Warwick Road and Stratford Road in Sparkhill and Tyseley “severely affected”.
Tariq Zaman said the fire took hold quickly at the industrial estate
Resident Tariq Zaman said the building “just went up so quickly”.
“I saw the start of it. It looked as if the smoke was coming out of the unit. After the flames it got worse and then the building just collapsed.
“Initially I was just worried about the smoke and debris but hopefully it’s been kept under control as there’s a lot of fire engines,” he added.
Bus passengers were warned to expect delays to all services in the area.
One woman tweeted: “We can see this from Moseley. Hope your crews are OK, it looks horrendous”.
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Montgomery Street Cooperative
A business hub tweeted people could see “thick black smoke belching from an industrial fire in Tyseley”
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