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Birmingham Fire Disrupts City Centre A large fire has caused major disruption to some businesses in part of Birmingham city centre. The blaze, which began at around 06:40 BST this morning (October 7th), took hold in an industrial building on New Canal Street in the Digbeth area, on the southern side of the central business district.
West Midlands Fire Service revealed that a "loud explosion" had been heard and said the fire was initially so hot they had to douse the building with water before firefighters with breathing apparatus could enter the building. A spokesperson for the fire service said: “We were called at 6.46am by fire control asking for us to carry out traffic duties. “There are road closures along New Canal Street from its junction from Fazeley Street to the junction with Bordesley Street.”
Although the premises were being used for industrial purposes, many old buildings can be converted to offices and a severe fire can destroy paper records and melt computer hard drives. These provide good reasons for using off-site document storage facilities to keep backed-up data safely. The advantages of remote working may also have been emphasised by the fact that those able to do this can get work done while not in the office – something that could help prevent the loss of production if an emergency in a nearby building means access to the premises is unsafe. Some companies based on New Canal Street will have faced this issue today.
West Midlands Fire Service tweeted earlier today that the road would be closed "for some times". It has subsequently revealed that the blaze has been brought under control and an engineer from the city council has arrived to inspect the damage, so it remains to be seen how long businesses will be denied access to their offices for. For firms whose own premises might be similarly cut off if there is a nearby fire, the events of today could provide a sobering lesson, particularly if a day for two of being closed could prevent important work such as business deals being carried out.
Storetec News/Blogs. "http://www.storetec.net/newsblog/birmingham-fire-disrupts-city-centre/". Birmingham Fire Disrupts City Centre. October 7, 2013. Storetec.