Crews tackle 'deliberate' blaze at disused Birmingham school
- Published
West Midlands Fire Service believes the fire was started deliberately
Forty firefighters were sent to tackle a blaze at a disused school in Birmingham.
West Midlands Fire Service said it was called to Baverstock Academy in Druids Heath at about 16:00 BST.
The school has been empty since 2017 and last year Birmingham City Council admitted it was spending thousands protecting it from vandals.
The fire service said the blaze was thought to have been started deliberately.
The fire was under control by 18:30.
However crews and fire investigation officers remained at the scene.
The fire service said it was too early to assess the scale of the damage.
West Midlands Police also attended and urged people to avoid the area.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
There have been no reported injuries, the fire service said.
Birmingham City Council, which is responsible for the school building despite its former academy status, has been contacted for comment.
When it closed, the council was hit with a bill for keeping it secure - including an around-the-clock security guard - which a report in 2019 revealed cost the authority £241,000 that year.
At the time, the council said it was seeking to dispose of the building and the surrounding land, but would continue to incur the costs of maintaining the building otherwise.
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, external, Twitter, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk , external
- Published8 August 2019
