Four people have been taken to hospital and several homes damaged as fires tore through residential neighbourhoods in the West Midlands.
A 16-hectare (40-acre) grassfire near a golf course in Stourbridge was one of several significant fires in the region on Thursday – the UK’s hottest day of the year.
Twelve fire engines carrying about 60 crew were sent to the scene after West Midlands fire service was alerted to the fast-moving blaze just before 1.30pm on Thursday.
Three firefighters and a child were taken to hospital for treatment, a fire service spokesperson said. A further six people were treated for smoke inhalation.
Some local rail services were disrupted, while roads in the area were closed due to smoke, fire and fallen trees.
Images released by the fire service showed the fire spreading to nearby woodland and homes. Six homes were damaged in the blaze, and other people in the area reported power problems.
The fire service spokesperson said: “This is a wildfire with several points of origin, now involving multiple houses on fire.”
Stourbridge town hall was opened to receive those forced to leave their homes, with the fire service helping to transport people who could not travel independently.
Care home residents had also been evacuated, a local councillor, Andrew Southall, said.
Fire crews across the UK were battling multiple blazes on Thursday evening.
Homes were destroyed by a fire in Sandyford, Stoke-on-Trent, and a woman was seriously injured when fire tore through homes in Castle Vale near Birmingham, the BBC reported.
Northbound traffic on the M6 near Birmingham was temporarily closed due to smoke from a fire near the motorway, causing severe congestion and delays of more than two hours.
Several homes were damaged, with 30 properties evacuated and a further 200 left without power due to a separate fire in Pershore, Worcestershire. One person was treated for smoke inhalation.
In Warwickshire, the county’s fire and rescue service declared a major incident as crews fought a “large fire” in Salford Priors, Stratford-upon-Avon. That blaze was considered under control by Thursday evening.
Dr Thomas Smith, an associate professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics, said it was “highly unusual” for a wildfire to destroy homes in the UK.
“To see wildfires once again destroying people’s homes is a deeply concerning sign that we are experiencing more extreme fire behaviour than we have historically,” he said. “The combination of exceptional heat and prolonged dry conditions is creating fires that spread faster, burn more intensely and increasingly threaten communities.”
The Met Office gave a provisional reading of 38.1C (100.6F) on Thursday at Kew Gardens in west London.
Forty locations across central and southern England recorded temperatures of 36C or above.
