Newtown factory fire to be investigated

A probe has now begun into what happened to cause a Birmingham factory to set alight, with the situation made even more precarious due to the presence of dangerous gas cylinders.

Around 60 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze at Quality Lighting Design, in Bridge Street West, Newtown, last Monday morning, just before 6am.

Part of the industrial unit had partially collapsed and the fire crews suspected there were three acetylene cylinders located in this section of the factory, so water was used to ensure they didn’t explode.

A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service, Bill Gough, said:

“The hazard with acetylene is once heated it continues to generate heat internally so we have to treat them with the greatest respect because they can fail with explosive results.”

A joint investigation has now been launched between police officers and fire personnel to find out what started the fire at the building, which is not far from Birmingham city centre.

The owner of the business, Guy Shaw, explained how he expected to continue working despite this incident. He said:

“We are a very strong business, we have being going for 22 years now and I am certainly not going to let something like this, bad though it is, put us out of business.”

There were no injuries following the blaze but a number of roads were cordoned off due to the threat posed by the gas cylinders.