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Fires in Southall, Birmingham and Coventry Leave Church Unsafe and Car Dealership Severely Damaged

Investigations continue as crews scale back operations after major overnight responses.

Overview

  • King’s Hall Methodist Church in Southall was brought under control around 12:30am after about 70 firefighters and two aerial ladders tackled flames that engulfed multiple floors and the roof.
  • The church’s roof and upper floors collapsed and the local authority declared the derelict building structurally unsafe, with no risk to surrounding properties and no reported injuries.
  • London Fire Brigade received more than 20 calls from 9:30pm, deployed crews from several stations, advised residents to keep windows closed, and later reopened South Road once the site was made safe.
  • In Birmingham, a fire in a flat at Brindley House appears to have started accidentally in a fourth-floor kitchen; two adults and a child escaped and the blaze was extinguished by about 11:00am.
  • In Coventry, six engines and a hydraulic platform fought a large blaze at KM Motors, with roughly half the single-storey premises affected; crews have scaled down after damping hotspots and roads have reopened, with the cause under investigation.