'Our house isn't there any more': Son's failed battle to save burning home with a hosepipe
20 July 2022, 09:03 | Updated: 20 July 2022, 09:36
- Homeowners tell how they desperately battled to stop wildfire
- Man whose home was destroyed tells LBC how blaze spread in minutes from ‘little pile of grass’
- He tried in vain to stop the inferno using his hosepipe
- Major incidents declared across the country as fires raged in 40C heat
- Row of houses in Barnsley, South Yorkshire gutted by fire.
- Sadiq Khan said it was London Fire Brigade's busiest day since the Second World War
'Our house isn't there any more': Son's failed battle to save burning home with a hosepipe
Homeowners have described how their properties were burnt to the ground by a wildfire sparked by a 'little pile of grass' which spontaneously combusted and set homes alight in a matter of minutes in record-breaking UK heat.
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.
LBC spoke to resident Alfie Stock, whose home was the second to be destroyed in the fire.
He explained how he took to his roof with a hosepipe to try and battle the fire, that quickly turned into the inferno which destroyed homes in Wennington.
Read more: Tears and devastation as scores of homes destroyed in heatwave as UK braces for storms
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He said this morning his home “Is not there any more.”
“We were the ones who called the fire brigade.
“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.
“Within 5 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.
“It was so dry. Once that wind picked up it just spread everywhere. Fences that were a good 50 yards away were just sparking up on fire seemingly out of nowhere.
“Our house backed on to Wennington fire station and normally they were in. The almost didn’t come because they thought it was a garden fire.
He said the Fire Brigade turned up within 10 minutes but when they first arrived “the pressure was so low the hoses weren’t touching” the fire.
He said his home was “completely gone.”
“It’s slowly sinking in, but I’m just glad everyone’s safe. Things are replaceable.”
Smoke billows into the air as fire consumes Dartford Heath
“I had a couple of minutes to get stuff out of the shed. At least I got something. I got a box of photos but lost everything else.”
Alfie said he was pleased to see a lot of the houses still standing. “I can’t imagine the extent of the smoke damage,” he said.
“It’s quite shocking. We stayed at a local hotel last night, we managed to get the last two rooms. Hopefully we’ll get back and see what we can salvage.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said a total of 41 properties in London were destroyed in the fire, and it was the London Fire Brigade's busiest day since World War II.
Horrific fires swept through homes last night as Britain recorded the hottest day in its history, with the 40C (104F) barrier broken for the first time.
Fires broke out across the country with major incidents declared in London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, South Yorkshire and Leicestershire. Scotland and Wales also saw fires.
Further north, a row of houses in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was gutted by fire.
Barnsley Councillor Kevin Osborne said on Twitter he thought six houses had been involved in the incident as he posted dramatic footage of one home being devastated by the blaze.
Firefighters described blazes tearing through homes and buildings in London as "absolute hell" - with residents evacuated, people taken to hospital and a major incident declared.
As temperatures in the capital soared to more than 40C on Tuesday afternoon, "several significant" incidents occurred, with people urged not to have barbecues or bonfires due to the "unprecedented" challenges crews face.
Two people were also taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation following a fire in Dagenham.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) declared a major incident due to "a huge surge" in blazes across the capital.
Sadiq Khan said LFB had received more than 1,600 calls for assistance by late Tuesday afternoon.
Jonathan Smith, assistant commissioner at LFB, told Sky News many of the fires are spread over wide areas and began because the ground is "tinderbox dry".
He continued: "So even a small fire will develop very, very quickly if it's not tackled effectively and efficiently in its early stages.
"We would also say to people that they don't try and tackle fires themselves.
"The situation that you can see is extremely dynamic and these fires can develop very very quickly and we would not want to see members of the public exposing themselves to unnecessary risk."
In Wennington, local residents could be seen being comforted, with hundreds of firefighters at the scene.
At least one home could be seen completely destroyed by the fire, while others appeared to be badly damaged.
Nearby 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."
It was among the fires being tackled in London on Tuesday afternoon, which were:
- 30 fire engines dealing with a grass fire on Pea Lane in Upminster.
- 12 fire engines tackling a fire involving garden fencing and trees on Uxbridge Road in Pinner.
- 10 fire engines tackling a restaurant fire on Green Lanes in Southgate.
- Eight fire engines tackling a grass fire on Oaks Road in Croydon.
- Eight fire engines tackling a grass fire on Ballards Road in Dagenham.
- Eight fire engines tackling a fire on The Broadway in Wembley.
- Six fire engines tackling a grass fire on Sunningfields Crescent in Hendon.
- Four fire engines tackling a grass fire on Chapel View in Croydon.
- Four fire engines tackling a fire on Sidcup Road in Eltham.
Houses were evacuated in Dagenham following a "significant grassfire" which affected a number of buildings and left a man and woman in hospital due to smoke inhalation.
Liam Edwards, 25, from Bexley, a student at Oxford Brookes, speaking about a fire by the A2 in Dartford, said: "It was huge when we left it multiple fire engines I'd like to say it's under control but who knows at this point ?
"I've lived in London and Kent all my life I've never seen anything like that before."
LFB's assistant commissioner for operational resilience and control, Patrick Goulbourne, said: "The brigade remains ready to respond to incidents.
"However, we want to ensure our resources are available for people who really need our help.
"If you see a fire smouldering, please don't hesitate to call us.
"The sooner we know about a fire, the sooner we can bring it under control and prevent it from spreading further, reducing the need for us to mobilise additional resources.
"We are also strongly urging people not to have barbecues or bonfires today as the ground is incredibly dry, which means even the smallest sparks could cause a fire.
"Please take care during the heatwave as all emergency services are facing unprecedented challenges."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter: "This is critical: @LondonFire is under immense pressure."
He also said: "We simply can't cope with the number of fires across our city directly attributable to the heatwave we're experiencing, the dry grass, the way the fire spreads during the heatwave."
