PICTURED: Firefighters battle severe Bilston shop blaze
A fire that took place in a shop's office in Bilston was so severe that it took the plaster off the walls, fire officers have revealed.
Fire fighters were called to the blaze at the St Giles Shop, Church Street, Bilston at 4.50am this morning.
They were alerted by nearby bakery workers who were just starting their day and spotted plumes of smoke coming from the building.
Crews from Bilston, Wednesbury and Willenhall attended the scene, taking around an hour and a half to tackle the flames.
John Wildman, watch commander at Bilston fire station said: "Everything was just burnt out, plaster was spawning off the walls, it even affected the neighbouring shop Specsavers as smoke percolated through the walls. So they are cleaning up too.
"The fire was quite severe when we got there, with large amounts of smoke emerging from the shop front.
"There was a small office in the shop and they had experienced a number of issues with their electrics, so we think this was an electrical fire.
The crews were initially unable to ascertain whether the fire was started by an appliance or by the electrics running through the building itself.
Firefighters were still at the scene at 10am, 'digging out' the fire and carrying out checks on the building.
"Crews will dig out the scene and return later in the day to check that everything remains safe and that there are no further fires" Watch commander Wildman added.
