Five people – including a man arrested on suspicion of arson – were taken to hospital after a blaze broke out in Birmingham city centre. The inferno began at a block of flats on Islington Row Middleway, near Five Ways, at around 5.15am today, January 14.
Firefighters rushed to the blaze which started in a second-floor bedroom. Three men and one woman were taken to the Midland Metropolitan Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.
A fifth person was rescued from a staircase, West Midlands Fire Service said. A man, arrested on suspicion of arson, was also rushed to hospital.
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Detectives said he would be quizzed in “due course”. A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: “We were called following a fire at a flat in Islington Row, Birmingham, at just after 5.20am today, January 14.
“A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson. He has been taken to hospital for assessment and will be questioned in due course. No-one else was injured.”
The scene of the fire alert near Birmingham city centre this morning.
A West Midlands Fire Service spokesperson said: “Shortly after 5.15am, we responded to Islington Row Middleway in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. Four fire engines and a 4×4 brigade response vehicle responded, crewed by firefighters from Highgate, Ladywood, Handsworth and Aston fire stations.
“The first crew reached the scene within three minutes of being mobilised. This was a bedroom fire in a flat on the second floor of a four-storey mixed-use building primarily used as flats.
“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire, which had caused heavy smoke logging in the flat. The fire was contained to the room of origin.
“Firefighters rescued one person from a staircase. Three men and one female are believed to have been conveyed to Midland Metro Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment. A full search of all neighbouring flats was carried out to confirm there was no further fire spread or casualties.
“We have scaled down our resources at this incident, and one fire engine remains. Police colleagues are in attendance.”