Mystery as fire strikes timber yard

Flames of 50ft filled the sky above the Black Country after a blaze took hold at a timber yard.

Masons Timber & DIY, in Bilston Street, Willenhall, was almost completely destroyed in the unexplained fire.

Four fire trucks and a hydraulic platform were needed to extinguish the blaze, which began just before 9pm on Saturday. With smoke billowing across the surrounding roads, police shut off Bilston Street and Rose Hill to motorists at their junctions with Walsall Road and Bilston Lane.

Stephen Jones, aged 43, from Market Place, was at a friend's home in nearby New Road when he spotted the fire.

"We were just having dinner when we saw the flames, which must have been at least 50ft high," he said.

"At first we thought Somerfields was on fire, but when we came out of the house and went down the road we could see it was the timber yard.

"There were a lot of fire engines, but it looked like the place must have burning to the ground, the flames were so big."

Firefighters took around two hours to extinguish the blaze, and watch commander Andy Morgan, from Willenhall fire station said its cause was still under investigation.