Firefighters still at scene of Wolverhampton blaze as trains resume after wall demolition
Firefighters remain at the scene of the giant Wolverhampton fire which engulfed a factory on Monday night.
West Midlands Fire Service confirmed its staff would need to be dampening down the Horsey Fields site until at least Thursday.
Rail passengers bore the brunt of the disruption caused by the fire which spread within metres of the Stour Line which connects Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
The latest West Midlands Fire Service update, which was posted at 3.30pm today (Wednesday) said: "Crews are still making good progress at this incident, damping down hotspots and ensuring scene safety.
"Liaison with local agencies including West Midlands Police, Network Rail and Walsall Council is continuing to take place, with regular multi-agency briefings."
The update continued: "Fire service resources at the incident have been reduced to four fire engines and a single hydraulic platform. We expect this to continue overnight.
"Previous road closures still remain in place. Rail travel has resumed, but with speed restrictions in the area, so some services may be affected. Please check with your rail operator regarding any delays."
Network Rail thanked passengers for their patience after delays on Monday night, the entire closure of the Stour Line on Tuesday.
Before the line was deemed safe Network Rail engineers had to demolish an unstable wall at the neighbouring building which was gutted in the blaze..
Martin Colmey, Network Rail’s Central route operations director, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we had to close the railway for their safety during this major incident. With the blaze within metres of the railway we had no choice but to close the line.
“Where possible we tried to keep as many services running through diversions but I appreciate travel for people would have been very challenging yesterday. Thankfully the route is now reopen thanks to the hard work of railway staff and West Midlands Fire Service who fought the flames and protected our key infrastructure from any serious damage.”
Passengers travelling along the reopened line on Wednesday morning could see the devastation caused by the blaze.
Marketing executive Laurianne Dudgeon passed the site at 8.50am on her morning commute and was shocked at the extent of the fire.
She said: "My train went directly past where the factory fire was, firefighters were still at the scene. Smoke was still present, but the area covered by the fire was quite large.
