police officers and paramedics were seeing to a man of Indian descent
A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a blaze broke out in Birmingham city centre.
The fire began at a block of flats on Islington Row Middleway, near Five Ways in Edgbaston, at around 5:15 am on January 14, 2025.
Firefighters rushed to the inferno which started of the third-floor flat in a second-floor bedroom. The property is known to house Indian migrants.
A mix of over 20 firefighters, police and ambulance personnel attended the incident where dense smoke could be seen bellowing out from the property.
A fire engine at the rear of the property was used to address the flames inside the property. The windows to the stairwells of the property were broken on the second and third floors.
Witnesses say police officers and paramedics were seeing to a man of Indian descent. He was acting aggressively but had suffered from smoke inhalation and was getting treatment.
The man, who is possibly the suspect, was then carried by police officers and paramedics in a stretcher to the ambulance parked on Frederick, Road, in Edgbaston.
People from nearby flats were alerted to the incident and some stood outside between around 5.30 am and 6.30 am in the rear carpark of the flats watching the firefighters tackle the blaze.
Firefighters helped an elderly man out of his property, which is directly above the flat involved with the fire.
Three men and one woman were taken to the Midland Metropolitan Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.
West Midlands Fire Service said a fifth person was rescued from a staircase.
The suspect was also taken to hospital.
Police and forensics teams have been in attendance at the property into the afternoon since the incident still doing their analysis.
Detectives said he would be questioned in “due course”.
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: “We were called following a fire at a flat in Islington Row, Birmingham, at just after 5:20 am today, January 14.
“A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson. He has been taken to hospital for assessment and will be questioned in due course. No one else was injured.”
A West Midlands Fire Service spokesperson added: “Shortly after 5:15 am, we responded to Islington Row Middleway in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham.
“Four fire engines and a 4×4 brigade response vehicle responded, crewed by firefighters from Highgate, Ladywood, Handsworth and Aston fire stations.
“The first crew reached the scene within three minutes of being mobilised.
“This was a bedroom fire in a flat on the second floor of a four-storey mixed-use building primarily used as flats.
“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire, which had caused heavy smoke logging in the flat. The fire was contained to the room of origin.
“Firefighters rescued one person from a staircase.”
“Three men and one female are believed to have been conveyed to Midland Metro Hospital for smoke inhalation treatment.
“A full search of all neighbouring flats was carried out to confirm there was no further fire spread or casualties.
“We have scaled down our resources at this incident, and one fire engine remains. Police colleagues are in attendance.”
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