Fire in void hotel off Rookery Rd, Handsworth

We now have a total of 10 fire crews dealing with this incident.

The fire is confirmed on the 1st floor and roof space of the 2-storey premises, a void hotel believed to be under refurbishment.

Crews are working to contain the fire and prevent any further escalation of this incident. To allow safe working for our firefighters and other agencies on site, Rookery Road has been closed.

No casualties have been identified at this stage.

West Midlands Police, West Midlands Ambulance, National Grid Gas engineers and the owner of the premises are all in attendance assisting our crews.

Crews are continuing to make good progress at this incident.

Fire has affected approximately 5% of the building.

A full search of the building has taken place and all persons are accounted for.

Rookery Road remains closed at this time, but a plan to allow the road to partially re-open is expected to be implemented soon.

Some crews are working at height, stripping tiles from the roof to check fire spread and extinguish as needed.

Good progress has been made, with the incident now being scaled down.

Crews will be in attendance for approximately another 2-3 hours cutting away and damping down.

All persons were accounted for at this incident with no reported injuries.

The cause is under investigation but is believed to be accidental.

Further revisits will likely take place over the course of the afternoon and evening.

Rookery Road has now been re-opened.