Families have revealed how their lives have been turned upside-down by the devastating wildfires which ripped through parts of England on the hottest day in UK history.
As many as 20 families have been left homeless after a fire tore through the small village of Wennington, on the outskirts of east London, yesterday amid the UK’s record breaking 40C heatwave.
As many as 41 homes were destroyed across London yesterday – nearly half of which were gutted in Wennington alone.
Local officials believe 19 properties were destroyed in the grass blaze, including two detached houses, two semi-detached houses, two rows of terraced houses, two outbuildings, six single-storey garages, 12 stables – as well as five cars.
Another 14 homes and 25 vehicles were destroyed in a blaze in Dagenham, while six have been left charred after a fire in Barnsley which is believed to have started in a garden shed.
Drone footage also shows firefighters battling back against a wildfire as it advanced on properties in Brancaster Staithe near Watton in Norfolk. At least five homes are thought to have been destroyed.
Now families caught up in the devastation have spoken about the moment they noticed the inferno sweeping towards them.
Some revealed how they rescued their pets, while others attempted to dig trenches in a desperate bid to stop the advancing wall of fire.
Tim Stock, whose house was destroyed in yesterday’s devastating fire in Wennington, said he and his son saw blaze in his neighbour’s garden but were unable to stop it spreading.
The 66-year-old, who works as the village gravedigger and church warden, saw his house burn to the ground, but managed to escape with his family, two dogs and a tortoise.
Among the heartbreaking stories emerging from those impacted by yesterday’s wildfires:
- A son described how he watched in horror as he saw his parents’ home go up in flames on TV;
- A man who lost his wife to Covid last year has now lost his home, while an animal rescue charity says they are searching for his missing Staffordshire bull terrier;
- A homeowner was rescued by firefighters after attempting to dig a trench in a bid to protect his home from the advancing inferno;
- Another managed to save their property by keep the flames under control with a hosepipe and buckets of water until the fire brigade arrived;
- A resident managed to grab a handful of clothes, a few photos and her grandfather’s ashes before watching her property go up in flames;
- One resident grabbed some possessions and ran to a nearby friend’s house, only for their property to later go up in flames;
- A tortoise owner rescued their beloved pet – who is 60 in human years – from their home as the fire approached;
- Families say they are now having to stay in hotels with little or no possessions after their houses and everything in them went up in flames;
BARNSLEY: Father and daughter Emily Hanson, 18, and Jason Saville, 48, managed to save their property by dousing their garden in water from their paddling pool in the early hours of the morning
BARNSLEY: At least six homes have been left charred after a fire in Barnsley, which is believed to have started from a garden shed
WENNINGTON: Tim Stock (pictured here with wife Maggie, Vicky Schafer and Alfie Stock) whose own house was destroyed, said he and his son saw the fire in his neighbour’s garden but had been unable to stop it spreading
WENNINGTON: The 66-year-old, who works as the village gravedigger and church warden, managed to escape with his family, two dogs and a tortoise. Pictured: The Stock’s house after it was destroyed by fire
WATTON: Drone footage also shows firefighters battling back against a wildfire as it advanced on properties in Brancaster Staithe near Watton in Norfolk. At least five homes are thought to have been destroyed
DAGENHAM: Firefighters at the scene of a blaze in Dagenham, east London, which destroyed a number of properties and vehicles
DAGENHAM: One of the worst scenes aside from Wennington was in Dagenham, east London, where video shows an almost post-apocalyptic scene following a blaze which has destroyed a number of properties. One person filming the devastation described it as ‘like a warzone’
Mr Stock said: ‘I lost everything. The house, the garden, we had two beehives, there was no going back.
‘My son took some stuff and went round to his mate’s house but about 10 minutes later that burnt down so he has got nothing either.
‘I’ve been a gravedigger for 50 years. My truck has blown up, that belonged to the council. I didn’t have time to get it out.
‘Last night I stayed in Thurrock Hotel. The council was trying to put us up in people’s houses but we’ve got two dogs and my tortoise Malty.’
Speaking about how the fire started, he said: ‘The fire started across the cornfield, at one point I got stuck behind the cordon and the field was burning so I couldn’t get out that way.
‘We opened up the church because I have the keys, we got everyone in, people were covered in soot, they were having a drink of water, but then that started filling up with smoke so we had to get everyone out again. I’m surprised it didn’t burn down as well to be honest.’
Tim’s family home is one of 19 believed to have been destroyed in the fire. Among the wrecked houses are two detached houses, two semi-detached houses, two rows of terraced houses, two outbuildings, six single-storey garages, 12 stables and five cars were destroyed by the blaze.
Despite losing his home, Tim added defiantly: ‘We will bounce back and we will start again!’
His son Alfie today revealed how he battled to save his childhood home with a hosepipe.
He added: ‘I was just getting ready to go out and my brother came in and told me he could smell some smoke.
‘It was just a pile of grass, it was nothing. By the time we got the hosepipe through the wind picked up and the embers from that little pile of grass spread to all the trees.
Maggie Stock, Tim Stock, Vicky Schafer and Alfie Stock who have lost everything after the fire started next door to them in Wennington
WENNINGTON: A woman is given water and comforted close to the blaze in the village of Wennington, east London, where 100 firefighters tackled a fire on Tuesday
WENNINGTON: Two detached houses, two semi-detached houses, two rows of terraced houses, two outbuildings, six single-storey garages, 12 stables and five cars were destroyed by the blaze
Residents and emergency services are assessing the damage this morning after Britain’s hottest day on record sparked a string of devastating wild fires which destroyed dozens of homes and businesses. (Pictured: Aftermath in Wennington, Essex)
Around 100 firefighters were called to an inferno in Wennington, Essex, alone, which one emergency worker described as ‘absolute hell.’ (Pictured: Row of destroyed homes in Wennington following Tuesday’s inferno)
Burned out cars are among the wreckage left by a fierce wildfire in Wennington, Essex, sparked by record-breaking temperatures on Tuesday
Firefighters are pictured dampening the flames in Wennington early on Wednesday morning, as warnings for fires remained in place due to the dry conditions
Burnt grass surrounds St Mary and St Peter’s Church in the village of Wennington, as historic place of worship miraculously remains largely untouched by the inferno
Two rows of terraced houses, four other homes, 12 stables and five cars were destroyed by the inferno in Wennington, near the Dartford Crossing east of London. Pictured: A sliding image showing the devastation after the fire (left) and the village before the fire (right)
The chard remains of homes in the village of Wennington following the devastating fire which swept through yesterday as Britain hit 40C for the first time
The inferno appears to have been sparked by a burning compost heap around 1pm in parched grassland adjacent to Wennington fire station – which meant firefighters were immediately on the scene
Firefighters fought in vain to stop the fire rapidly spreading on to tinder dry scrubland and incinerating back gardens. As homes were gutted, residents said they could hear the sound of panicked horses whinnying in a surrounding field
‘Within five minutes, their house was on fire. We were trying to hose down their lean-to roof to try and stop it spreading to our house as best we could. It went from there.’
Another local, Ray Smith, 55, told the Sun: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.
‘I got in my car and got out of there. People were scared. It’s heartbreaking. I think I’ve lost everything.’
Carole Stopp, 69, who has lived in Wennington Green for more than 35 years, also rescued her tortoise Cleo – who is 60 years old in human years – from the blaze.
She told the Telegraph: ‘Thick black smoke started rising at about 1pm.
‘I said: ‘Oh my god’ and looked out the window. Our neighbour Tim’s front garden was on fire. We rang to see if he was ok. Tim was trying to put the fire out himself with a hose.
‘Then we heard some large bangs – we think it must have been windows imploding because of the heat. We just grabbed the tortoise and left.’
While some families managed to rescue their pets, others who didn’t are in fear of their safety.
Gary Ruel, 63, a lorry driver who was evacuated from his home, told the paper: ‘I’m really worried about my house. I might have lost three cats, I got the dog out, but didn’t have time for the cats.’
‘It’s terrible. I’ve just finished paying off the mortgage two months ago. It’s heartbreaking.
‘My wife has [the lung condition] COPD and the fireman was just telling her ‘Get out, get out!’.’
The couple’s son William, 33, who lives in Halstead, Essex said: ‘My mum sent me a picture of the fire outside the home from the bathroom. She was still in there when it was coming up to the house.
‘It started in the field, then came into the garden, then it was up to the decking and the conservatory. We think the neighbour’s house has gone too. It’s awful, I watched on TV as the house went up in flames.’
Neighbour Kia Meadows described how quickly things went ablaze. She told BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: ‘I was sunbathing in my garden when a massive black cloud’s come across, I looked up and that side of Wennington was on fire and within an hour it had spread to our house.
‘A lot of this land is built on a lot of rubbish and as soon as the heat comes, this area goes on fire straight away but never did I believe it would come that close.’
Meanwhile, friends of those affected today revealed how one woman fled her burning home in scorched Wennington with just her photo album, a cat and her dead grandfather’s ashes, it emerged today.
Two of her cats are still missing following the massive fire which she said might have started in a compost bin next door to her.
The story emerged as a friend, who would not give his name, returned to the village to look for her cats.
He said he was looking after two people who had lost their homes.
He said: ‘I just came down to look for the cats of two friends who are staying at mine in Upminster.
‘I heard the scrapyard was looking after pets but I haven’t seen the cats and the police aren’t letting anyone through.
‘The fire, it was next door to their house, and she seems to think it came from a compost bin. She said it enveloped the treeline.
‘She tried to get her cats out, one jumped out of her hand, the other she got in a box and the other ran off. It scratched her hand it was so frightened.
‘She was evacuated to the Windmill pub but luckily I’m local so I phoned them up when I heard and they came to stay with me in Upminster.
Carl Fox, 43, who lives behind the house which caught fire first. A house fire started yesterday in Barnsley, South Yorks, which left the houses completely gutted
BARNSLEY: The remains of a property in Barnsley after a fire broke out in a back garden and spread to homes – destroying four properties
Six homes were destroyed in a residential area of Barnsley after a fire erupted yesterday during the 40C heat
‘They are more concerned about the cats than the rest of it. They’re in shock but there are little bits coming back to them.
‘She lost her father last year and she picked up her photo albums on the way out and his ashes.
‘Otherwise it’s all gone, everything. They’ve got two vehicles and they are not even letting them go in to get them, a van on The Green and a Porsche outside someone’s house. At least if they get them they are mobile.’
Amid the scramble to evacuate people from Wennington yesterday, one woman said her uncle was trapped – and was ‘digging a trench’ around his house to thwart the flames. Police later rescued him.
With its Norman church, Wennington features in the Domesday Book, and it seemed an apt description last night amid the smouldering ruins of charred homes.
Local councillor Susan Ospreay said: ‘Wennington Village has been completely devastated by fire.’
Meanwhile, Ray Morgan, Leader of Havering Council told MailOnline: ‘The village is still sealed off and the Fire Brigade is currently carrying out an assessment.
‘Sadly, a number of homes will have to be demolished. Some of these are very historic buildings that have been damaged beyond repair.’
He added: ‘All the residents have been evacuated and are either in temporary accommodation provided by the Council or staying with relatives. We are all working extremely hard to make sure they are cared for.’
The inferno appears to have been sparked by a burning compost heap around 1pm in parched grassland adjacent to Wennington fire station – which meant firefighters were immediately on the scene.
Distressed residents could be seen carrying buckets of water to the Lennards Arms pub where the community had gathered. Others were hurriedly removing gas canisters from the pub.
Others were hurriedly removing gas canisters from the pub. As the blaze drew nearer, police evacuated the building.
Landlord Walter Martin, 60, said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s awful. People are devastated.’ Pensioner Lynn Sabberton said: ‘The police came to our house and told us to get what we could.’
Brian Brazier, 75, added: ‘The fire has burnt my stables out. It started as a little fire around the back of the houses and if someone had been there to put it out we wouldn’t have had all this trouble.’
Resident Janet Hickey, 70, who has terminal pancreatic cancer, said she was forced to leave all her cancer drugs behind as they were evacuated. She said: ‘I’ve got all my cancer drugs in the fridge.’
As buildings surrounding the Grade II-listed medieval St Mary and St Peter’s Church caught fire, vicar Rev Elise Peterson called for people to pray for the community.
Meanwhile, a firefighter at the scene, asked by the PA news agency what conditions were like, replied: ‘absolute hell’, while those affected by the blaze said it had been spreading ‘fast’.
The scene after a blaze in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, after temperatures topped 40C in the UK for the first time ever
A house fire started yesterday in Barnsley, South Yorks, which left the houses completely gutted
Wennington resident, Lynn Sabberton, who said she was evacuated from her home with her partner who has a lung difficulty, told Sky News: ‘We thought it was one of the fields that caught alight over the back of us.
‘But then a neighbour rang me and said, ‘oh no, it’s on the green, the green has caught fire’. I saw the black smoke and the helicopters came over and more police came into our neighbourhood and it was really spreading very fast.
‘It just spread so quickly, I think the wind caused the fire to go our way towards the village.’
Lizzie Pittman, from Aveley in Essex, who works at some stables by the roundabout, said she was looking after the five horses who had been removed from their stables in Wennington, which had burnt down.
Ms Pittman said: ‘This is your worst nightmare. You can see it getting closer and closer.
‘People are losing their houses but that’s bricks and mortar. People are losing their livestock.’
