Crews fight fire at former care home

Fire crews are attending a "significant fire" which has torn through a former care home in Coventry.

At its height, 35 firefighters tackled the blaze at the former Applegarth care home on Brownshill Green Road. Police said it was a suspected arson attack.

Crews from the city and neighbouring Birmingham were sent to the fire after calls were made to West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) from 22:19 BST on Saturday.

The service said the building was unsafe for crews to enter and it was still at the scene on Sunday, damping down and using a hydraulic platform to try to reach active parts of the fire.

People were advised to avoid the area and some road closures were in place near the site on Sunday morning.

"I can see this going on for some time," said a service spokesperson who expected the derelict building would need to be demolished at some point because of the damage it had sustained.

WMFS initially sent two crews to the scene but its response was increased after a member of the public sent footage of the blaze to its 999Eye system.

It enables callers to send livestream videos of incidents from their phones to the brigade's control centre.

"This showed us clearly how significant it was," the spokesperson added.

West Midlands Police said it was investigating the fire which was thought to be an arson.

"Officers were called to Brownshill Green Road to assist West Midlands Fire Service who were dealing with a fire at a disused former care home," the force said.

Anyone with information was asked to call police on 101 or Live Chat.

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