Mayor Sadiq Khan said the London Fire Brigade (LFB) was “under enormous pressure” as he urged people to be safe, adding that the situation was “critical”. Dozens of fire engines and hundreds of firefighters have been involved in putting out at least 10 separate fires. Elsewhere in the UK, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service also declared a major incident in its county “due to high demand”, adding: “We will not attend to automatic fire alarms. Only call us if it is an emergency.” UK one of the hottest places on Earth – see live weather updates Image: A number of buildings were engulfed in fire in Wennington, east London In a village on the outskirts of east London, several houses were destroyed and others badly damaged after fires broke out in grass, engulfing property. LFB sent 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters to Wennington to tackle the blaze which engulfed a number of buildings and adjacent fields. Aerial footage showed smoke covering the village in Greater London and closing in on a historic church. The adjacent fields were completely burnt and burning fiercely. It is not known if anyone was injured in the incident and the cause is unclear. 100 firefighters are battling the Wennington blaze London Fire Brigade tweeted: “We have 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters tackling this fire at The Green in Wennington.” Houses were burning near a fire station in Wennington – a small village with a population of around 300 people. Eyewitness Pierre L’Aimable said the fire was “huge… there was so much black smoke in the air”. He told Sky News: “There are horse stables nearby and we saw these horses being evacuated and people being evacuated. There are a lot of animals being rescued.” “A lot of people are upset” He added: “A lot of people who got away were standing on the side of the road. You could see a lot of them were close to the fire because there was black on their chests so they were very close to it. A lot of them were sadly upset.” Local resident Lynn Sabberton, who said she was evacuated from her home with her partner, who has lung problems, told Sky News: “We thought it was one of the fields that burnt down at our back. “But then a neighbor called me and said, ‘oh no, it’s on the green, the green is on fire.’ Image: A woman is comforted near the fire in Wennington The fire ‘spread so fast’ “I saw the black smoke and the helicopters came and more police came into our neighborhood and it spread really quickly. “It just spread so fast, I think the wind made the fire go towards the village.” She said she believed her home was “safe at the moment” but her husband’s condition was “not very good” as he had not had time to bring his inhaler with him. It was the hottest day on record in the UK, with provisional Met Office figures showing temperatures reaching 40.2C at Heathrow Airport and also later in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, beating the previous record of 38. 7C (101.66F in Cambridge three years ago. And Charterhall in the Scottish Borders temporarily set a new maximum temperature record for Scotland on Tuesday. The temperature rose to 34.8°C, surpassing the previous record of 32.9°C recorded at Graycrook on 9 August 2003. Image: The flames broke out near a fire station in Wennington As well as the big fire in Wennington, there are also a number of other fires today elsewhere in the capital: • Thirty fire engines tackled a grass fire on Pea Lane in Upminster • Twelve fire engines battled a blaze involving garden fencing and trees on Uxbridge Road in Pinner • Ten fire engines attended a fire at a restaurant in Green Lanes in Southgate • Eight fire engines battled a grass fire in Oaks Road in Croydon• Eight fire engines tackled a grass fire in Ballards Road in Dagenham• Eight fire engines attended a fire in The Broadway in Wembley• Six fire engines tackled a grass fire in Sunningfields Crescent in Hendon• Four fire engines were tackling a grass fire in Chapel View in Croydon• Four fire engines attended a fire in Sidcup Road in Eltham. Mr Khan tweeted: “London Fire Service has just declared a major incident in response to the huge outbreak of fires in the capital today. This is critical: the London Fire Service is under enormous pressure. “Please be safe. I am in contact with the Commissioner and will share updates when I have them.” “Don’t take risks” He also urged people: “Don’t barbecue on grass or balconies, don’t leave broken bottles or glasses on the grass (they can start fires), dispose of cigarettes safely and report a fire when you see it. “Don’t take any chances. Stay safe in the heat.” The London Ambulance Service said its crews were “responding to a number of fire incidents across London, including Rainham and Wembley”. “We have several resources on scene, including ambulance crews and our emergency response teams. We are treating patients on scene.”
title: “Major Incident Across London After Huge Increase In Fires And Homes Destroyed On Uk S Hottest Day Uk News " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-04” author: “Regina Hatfield”
Mayor Sadiq Khan said the London Fire Brigade (LFB) was under “huge pressure” as he urged the public to be safe, adding that the situation was “critical”. He also said people should not have barbecues anywhere in the capital today and tomorrow, including in parks and private gardens, as well as patios and balconies. Mr Khan told Sky News: “It’s not about us being the nanny state or the partisans, it’s the reality of accidents happening and fires starting and spreading quickly, in the garden, decks, houses and so on. henceforth,” adding that people should not wild swim” during the heat wave. He added that on a normal day the fire department receives a total of 300-350 calls for help, but today they have more than 1,600. Dozens of fire engines and hundreds of firefighters have been involved in putting out at least 10 separate fires today. UK one of the hottest places on Earth – see live weather updates Image: A number of buildings were engulfed in fire in Wennington, east London In a village on the outskirts of east London, several houses were destroyed and others badly damaged after fires broke out in grass, engulfing property. LFB sent 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters to Wennington to tackle the blaze which engulfed a number of buildings and fields. Aerial footage showed smoke billowing over the village and approaching a historic church. Sky correspondent Laura Bundock, who reported from the scene, said: “The smoke in the air is really thick. It was like night had fallen as we drove towards the village as we approached the fire. “The ground here is very dry, it’s brittle. Walk underfoot and it cracks underneath. So any fire, any wind will cause this to spread even more.” The adjacent fields were completely burnt and burning fiercely. It is not known if anyone was injured in the incident and the cause is unclear. Elsewhere in the UK, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service also declared a serious incident “due to high demand”, saying: “We will not attend to automatic fire alarms. Only call us if it is an emergency.” 100 firefighters are fighting the fire The LFB tweeted: “We have 15 fire engines and approximately 100 firefighters tackling this fire at The Green in Wennington.” Houses were burning near a fire station in the village, believed to house around 300 people. Pierre L’Aimable, who witnessed the fire, said it was “huge… there was so much black smoke in the air”. He told Sky News: “There are horse stables nearby and we saw these horses being evacuated and people being evacuated. There are a lot of animals being rescued.” “A lot of people are upset” Mr L’Aimable said many people were displaced from their homes. “You could see a lot of them were close to the fire because there was black on their chests, so they were very close to it. Many of them were unfortunately upset.” Resident Lynn Sabberton, who said she was evacuated from her home with her partner, who has lung problems, told Sky News: “We thought it was one of the fields that burnt down at our back. “But then a neighbor called me and said, ‘oh no, it’s on the green, the green is on fire.’ Image: A woman is comforted near the fire in Wennington The fire ‘spread so fast’ Ms Sabberton continued: “I saw the black smoke and the helicopters came and more police came into our neighborhood and it spread really quickly. “It just spread so fast, I think the wind made the fire go towards the village.” She said she believed her home was “safe at the moment” but her husband’s condition was “not very good” as he had not had time to bring his inhaler with him.
Analysis by Professor Ed Galea, Head of the Fire Safety Research Group at the University of Greenwich
I think this is a sign of things to come. I think we need to be prepared to deal with a lot more of these fires as the climate changes, as it gets drier and warmer in the UK we are likely to see more of these types of incidents. And we need to be prepared for them, not only in how the fire service responds, but also in how we design our urban environment, especially what’s known as the WUI – the wildland urban interface – as we see in Wennington – an urban environment on the edge of the wilderness. And we can learn from other countries around the world that have had to deal with these kinds of problems for many, many years. And so, for example, you build fire breaks around your properties. You choose the kind of plants you have near your property so they are less likely to burn easily. I’m from Australia originally and it wasn’t unusual to have days like today. And we would have days of absolute ban on fires. So it would be illegal to barbeque outside, for example, anywhere, even in your backyard. You couldn’t have an open fire anywhere during the days of the total fire ban. We must be prepared… This threat is not going away. It was the hottest day on record in the UK, with provisional Met Office figures showing the temperature reached 40.3C in the Lincolnshire village of Coningsby, beating the previous record of 38.7C (101.66F ) recorded at Cambridge three years ago. Currently, 34 weather stations have surpassed the old UK record and five have equaled it. Scotland temporarily recorded its hottest ever temperature on Tuesday. It reached 34.8 C (94.6 F) at Charterhall in the Scottish Borders, beating the previous record of 32.9 C (91.2 F) set at Greycrook in August 2003. Image: The flames broke out near a fire station in Wennington As well as the big fire in Wennington, there are also many other fires today in other parts of London: • Thirty fire engines tackled a grass fire on Pea Lane in Upminster • Twelve fire engines battled a blaze involving garden fencing and trees on Uxbridge Road in Pinner • Ten fire engines attended a fire at a restaurant in Green Lanes in Southgate • Eight fire engines battled a grass fire in Oaks Road in Croydon• Eight fire engines tackled a grass fire in Ballards Road in Dagenham• Eight fire engines attended a fire in The Broadway in Wembley• Six fire engines tackled a grass fire in Sunningfields Crescent in Hendon• Four fire engines were tackling a grass fire in Chapel View in Croydon• Four fire engines attended a fire in Sidcup Road in Eltham. Image: Fires in Greater London Mr Khan tweeted: “London Fire Service has just declared a major incident in response to the huge outbreak of fires in the capital today. This is critical: the London Fire Service is under enormous pressure. “Please be safe. I am in contact with the Commissioner and will share updates when I have them.” “Don’t take risks” He also urged people: “Don’t barbecue on grass or balconies, don’t leave broken bottles or glasses on the grass (they can start fires), dispose of cigarettes safely and report a fire when you see it. “Don’t take any chances. Stay safe in the heat.” The London Ambulance Service said its crews were “responding to a number of fire incidents across London, including Rainham and Wembley”. “We have several resources on scene, including ambulance crews and our emergency response teams. We are treating patients on scene.”
