By Naomi Desouza

Copyright birminghammail

A busy section of Birmingham city centre ground to a halt this evening, Monday September 15, following a high-rise fire. 50 West Midlands fire fighters attended the blaze at 4:30pm, which broke out on the top floor of a 16-storey building at Colmore Circus Queensway. Smoke was seen rising from the top floor of a disused office building opposite Birmingham Snow Hill station, and a significant section of Colmore Row was cordoned off and closed to the public. LIVE UPDATES: Birmingham high-rise fire live as smoke spotted and ‘evacuation’ order confirmed READ MORE: Birmingham man arrested in connection with social media people smuggling posts Fire crews, joined by West Midlands Police , West Midlands Ambulance and gas and water contractors were at the scene working on a building called Colmore Gate. There was also disruption to travel services, with National Express buses diverted and trams temporarily halted between St Chad’s and Edgbaston Village. BirminghamLive was at the scene this evening , where traffic was being diverted down Snowhill Queensway. West Midlands Fire Service confirmed the blaze originated in the top floor of the high-rise building. “Good progress” was made in getting water to the fire, and by 6:30pm the scene was being scaled down. Fire officials confirmed that the building was “disused” and fully evacuated. 50 firefighters, six fire engines, two brigade response vehicles and one hydraulic response platform were used in relief efforts. A West Midlands Fire Service spokesperson initially said: “Shortly after 4.30pm on Monday (15 September), we responded to Colmore Circus Queensway, Birmingham City Centre . “At present, six fire engines, three brigade response vehicles and a hydraulic aerial platform are in attendance at a fire on the top floor of a 16-storey high rise. “A cordon has been erected from Snow Hill Queensway to Livery Street. This section of Colmore Row is partially closed. Due to it being rush hour, please avoid the area and seek other transport routes at this time. “Crews have made good progress getting water to the fire, and it has now been surrounded. “A full evacuation of the building, which is disused, has been completed.” They then confirmed just before 6:30pm: “This fire has been extinguished and no further fire spread has been reported. Firefighters have been supported by drone operations. “We are planning on scaling down our presence at this incident shortly. While our relief plans are formulated, disruption will remain, and Snow Hill Queensway to Livery Street (affecting Colmore Row) will remain closed. “Bus and tram operations remain disrupted, but Snow Hill Train station is open with services running as normal. Live travel updates can be found here: https://x.com/TransportForWM “We’d like to thank everyone for their understanding as we continue to work at this incident.”