Police are investigating a suspected arson attack in Birmingham that led to five people being evacuated in the early hours of Monday morning when a car was driven into the front of a shop and set on fire.

Nobody was injured in the blaze, which police said began shortly before 4.50am on Stratford Road in Sparkhill in the south of the city.

Isaac Zintaan, a property developer, said witnesses had described an explosion that sounded “like a bomb went off”. He told PA Media he had not seen the incident but arrived on the scene after his tenants had called him.

“I have a business close by … the residents of my premises heard a loud explosion ‘like a bomb went off’, that’s what they described. [When I arrived] everyone was coughing due to the intensity of the smoke.”

The flats above the shop caught fire when the blaze spread up the signage at the front, West Midlands fire and rescue service said. About 55 firefighters, 10 fire engines, two 4×4 response vehicles and a hydraulic aerial platform attended the incident.

Pictures from the scene appeared to show a Land Rover with the back end burnt out, positioned as if it had reversed into the shop. It was later pulled out by a fire truck.

In an update on Monday morning, the fire service said the blaze was under control and that there had been no casualties or injuries. Five people received checks from paramedics after leaving their properties.

“Firefighters have made good progress at the scene and the fire is under control,” the service said in a statement.

“The hydraulic aerial platform remains in use as crews work to prevent fire spread. Two fire engines remain at the scene.

“Police colleagues are in attendance. Stratford Road is closed in both directions from Formans Road to Nansen Road.”

West Midlands police said in statement: “We are investigating after a suspected arson on Stratford Road, Birmingham, this morning [23 December].

“We were called at around 4.50am to reports of a fire at a shop. It’s understood a vehicle hit the building. It was set alight, causing the shop and flats above to catch fire.”