Road closed as 30 firefighters tackle Wolverhampton flats blaze

Some 30 firefighters battled for more than an hour to extinguish the flames at the three-floor town house on Tettenhall Road, in Wolverhampton, after the blaze broke out at around 3.30am.

They remained at the scene today, clearing debris and continuing damping down operations.

Nikki Johnson, aged 36, was one of 15 people who had to escape the building in the middle of the night.

The father of three, who lives on the ground floor, said: "I woke up to go to the toilet and I smelled something funny. I opened my back door and saw smoke coming from in the loft and that is when I called the fire brigade.

"I got my dog and came out. I banged on my neighbour's door upstairs and went outside.

"It was scary," he added. "I didn't know what was happening or what was up there, whether it was going to explode.

"People were running out of the building. There was panic. Everyone was worried about their stuff and everyone was checking that everyone was out.

"There was a guy shouting and running around banging doors. The lad underneath the fire, his place is wasted. It's terrible. The fire brigade did a good job."

The road was closed both ways for three hours. It re-opened into the city at around 6.30am and in the other direction at shortly before 8am.

Witnesses said water had flooded the carriageway after crews struggled to turn off the water supply.

The cause of the fire is now under investigation.

Crew Commander Ben Farmer, from Fallings Park station, said: "The fire took the majority of the roof space away and the people inside were quite lucky.

"There were a few people still in the flats so the crews forced their way in and led them to safety."