Aftermath of huge Wolverhampton fire at Carvers

These are the twisted remains of a landmark building in the centre of Wolverhampton which burned to the ground when a massive fire ripped through the premises.

Carvers Building Supplies, one of Wolverhampton's biggest and most successful firms, was destroyed by a devastating fire yesterday.

Owner Henry Carver and his team of executives are now working around the clock to rebuild the company. It employs 150 people at the main warehouse in Little's Lane, Wolverhampton, who are now waiting to find out what their future holds.

Another 50 work at a timber yard in Neachells Lane, Willenhall, which has become the temporary headquarters.

Thirty firefighters remained at the scene of the inferno today, extinguishing hotspots and making the area safe.

But despite the inferno wrecking his business, Mr Carver said: "We will regroup, we will rebuild.

"We're certainly going to give it our best try. After 116 years we're not about to give up. The company is well financed, we're not in debt. We've always paid our bills on time.

"We have to wait to see what happens with the loss adjusters."

He said 90 per cent of stock had been destroyed, and 80 per cent of trade had been lost.

"Today is really about negotiation with the insurers to sort out how we can do something to start again," he said.

The fire broke out at 11.40am yesterday, with the flames and smoke spreading rapidly. About 90 firefighters stopped flames spreading 30 yards to where liquid petroleum gas tanks are stored at the site. Most staff have been told to stay at home today.

The cause of the fire was today still unknown. Flames leapt 20ft into the air and smoke could be seen for miles. There were explosions at 12.30pm as the roof of the warehouse collapsed and small gas canisters blew up.

See all of the coverage of the Carvers fire from our sister publication expressandstar.com