Stourbridge wildfire destroys 19 houses, damages 18

A wildfire in Stourbridge has destroyed 19 houses and damaged 18 others, West Midlands Fire Service said, as Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited the English town and linked the conditions to climate change.

An AFP photographer saw smoke rising Friday from smouldering, roofless houses in Stourbridge, near Birmingham, while firefighters sprayed water on the ruins. Residents had been evacuated after the fire spread on Thursday, the UK's hottest day of the year so far, and some people were treated for smoke inhalation.

Three firefighters were hospitalised after fighting the Stourbridge blaze. In Staffordshire, farther north in the West Midlands region, six other firefighters were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, the local fire service said. The regional ambulance service said it treated 68 people on Thursday for symptoms including smoke inhalation, and 25 were hospitalised.

Burnham told firefighters he had never seen such scenes in Britain and said the country had to face up to the changing climate and move faster to clean energy. He described Britain as a “tinderbox” with 37 fires smouldering around the country and warned people not to light fires outdoors.

The government introduced a ban on selling disposable barbecue equipment. Burnham also promised a summit with fire services, said the government had not provided enough resources for such incidents and announced plans to commission firefighting planes.

Emergency services said some of the blazes were set deliberately in grasslands before spreading. Chief fire officer Simon Tuhill said “tinder dry” conditions helped the fire spread and called it one of the most significant incidents West Midlands Fire Service had attended.

The West Midlands region, along with nearly three-quarters of England, is in drought after weeks of heat and little rain. The National Fire Chiefs Council said climate change, prolonged extreme heat and changing land use were creating more frequent, larger and more complex wildfires.