Residents of Stourbridge have described the wildfires that devastated more than a dozen homes as “horrendous” and “distressing,” with one person calling it “one of the scariest days of my life.” The fires, which swept through the West Midlands on Thursday during the UK’s fifth consecutive heatwave, destroyed 19 homes in the market town and damaged 18 others, according to the fire service.
Record Heat and Rapid Spread
Temperatures reached a record high of 38.1C in the UK on Thursday, exacerbating the conditions that fueled the fires. The West Midlands ambulance service reported that 54 people were treated at eight different fires, with 19 taken to hospital. The flames spread so quickly that residents had little time to react, with many forced to evacuate their homes in a hurry.
Gemma Hobbs, 46, and her partner Andy Hobbs, 61, were evacuated from their home on Osmaston Road on Thursday, even though the wildfires raged over a mile away. “I looked out the windows and all I could see was thick black smoke. My husband came home in a bit of a flap and said: ‘We’ve got to get out. We’ve got to get out immediately,’” Gemma recalled. Andy added, “It’s just the fact you don’t expect something to be as exponential as this so quickly. From the span of the area, it’s over 40 acres, that’s what we’ve been told.”
Evacuation and Community Response
The Old Swinford Hospital, a boarding school in Stourbridge, was set up as a makeshift evacuation centre late on Thursday. By Friday, queues of cars and volunteers dropped off donations and supplies. Headteacher Paul Kilbride described the fires as a “devastating experience,” with more than 20 people evacuated from a nearby care home. “From what I saw, [the evacuees] were very tired and very anxious. I think they also showed great spirits [and] they obviously want to go home now,” he said. “This community suffered a lot yesterday.”
Laurence Green, 66, stayed at the evacuation centre overnight after being directed by police to leave his home on Osmaston Road. He saw “plumes of smoke” on Thursday afternoon. “It’s horrendous … some of the houses look as though they are very badly damaged or completely destroyed,” he said. “People who built up their lives and built up their homes and for some people, it’s all gone.”
Climate Crisis Debate
Green and others linked the fires to climate change, with Green calling the government’s temporary ban on disposable barbecues “pathetic” in comparison. “We should have woken up to what’s happening climate wise,” he said, urging the government to make the issue a priority. The Bishop of Dudley, Martin Gorick, who was also evacuated from his home, echoed these concerns. “The heat yesterday was extreme,” he said. “That doesn’t happen in England normally.” Gorick added, “This is not a divisive issue. It’s something that should bring us all together because we all live in one world. This is our only world.”
Gorick described witnessing houses “ablaze” and called it a “pretty awful sight.” “You see bursts of flame when it hits a tree or something like that. The flame is above the height of houses, it’s big and hot,” he said. Despite the devastation, he praised the local community for rallying together, including individuals who compiled lists of medications needed by evacuees and local churches and mosques that provided bedding. “The shops responded. People giving away drinks and food,” Gorick said. “It was great to see Muslims and Christians coming together, as well as any volunteers from any background, Sikh, Hindu, no faith were coming together. That’s the best side of the Black Country, coming together in a crisis.”
Official Response and Ongoing Support
During a visit to Stourbridge on Friday, Andy Burnham said the UK was like a “tinderbox” and announced the commission of firefighting planes to tackle future wildfires. “I’ve never seen scenes like this anywhere in Britain,” he told the BBC. Residents are still unable to return home, with some staying at a nearby hotel or the evacuation centre. The fires have left a lasting impact, with many fields blackened and still smouldering, as John Bairner, a neighbour who was evacuated, described: “All of the fields have gone, they’re all black. There’s a lot of residents up there, with buckets, hoses, just dampening down because it’s still smouldering away up there.” The community continues to support each other as they face the aftermath of the disaster.
