Five fire engines and a total of 25 firefighters were needed to deal with a “severe” blaze in a Birmingham city centre cafe following an explosion.
The West Midlands Fire Service was called out to the old Birmingham Dog’s Home on New Canal Street at 6.40am on Monday morning.
Fire crews closed off the street in both directions near the Fazeley Street junction in the east of the city causing disruption on other nearby routes as commuters tried to get to work. The whole of the building was affected by the blaze, according to Station commander Steve Harris, but he said no one had been hurt.
He said the fire service was in contact with the owner of the cafe to work out what caused the fire. It said in a tweet that a loud explosion had been heard before the blaze took hold, but the situation was under control.
Copyright Press Association 2013