A large fire spread through a Birmingham supermarket on 19 September 2022, extending to the flats above and leading to school and road closures in the surrounding area.

Located on the busy Alum Rock Road in Saltley, Zeenat Supermarket was subject to a large fire that spread throughout the building, with fire services responding to the incident at around 6.43pm the same day.

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) dispatched 12 fire appliances, five brigade response vehicles, and two hydraulic platforms to the scene, and around 80 firefighters worked to tackle the blaze, which had quickly extended to the flats above the store.

According to WMFS, main jets were used to prevent the further spread of the fire and extinguish it before it reached neighbouring buildings, including Thornton primary school, whilst multiple roads in the surrounding area were closed. People were asked to avoid the area and residents were also asked to keep doors and windows closed.

Fire crews were challenged with a collapsed roof and the “potential collapse of a wall” and remained on site throughout the night, using thermal imaging technology from a drone to help firefighters identify and extinguish hotspots. In the early hours of the morning, the service posted an update on its social media channels:

“Work continues to extinguish hotspots at the incident on Alum Rock Road, Birmingham. The incident has now been scaled down to 4 fire engines to continue to apply water over night.

“Roads still remain closed, but plans are being put in place to reduce the number of road closures.”

By the following day – 20 September – 20 firefighters, three fire appliances, and a 4×4 Brigade Response Vehicle were still at the scene.

No injuries were reported, but Thornton primary school remained closed, with the school posting an update on its Twitter page:

“Due to the large fire next to the school this evening, school will be closed to all pupils tomorrow Tuesday 20th September as we make the site safe.”

The cause of the fire was eventually determined as accidental, after it was found that the burning of rubbish outside had spread to the building.

(Photograph from WMFS)

Source The FPA – https://www.thefpa.co.uk/news/large-fire-spreads-through-birmingham-supermarket-