‘It’s due to climate’: the people of Stourbridge on the town’s wildfires

People in Stourbridge have described the fires that devastated more than a dozen homes as “horrendous” and “distressing”, with one describing blazes that surpassed the height of residential houses.Multiple fires spread across the West Midlands on Thursday as temperatures reached record highs of 38.1C in the UK, during the country’s fifth consecutive heatwave.Fifty-four people, including 19 who were taken to hospital, were treated at eight different fires on Thursday, West Midlands ambulance service said, with the fire service confirming 19 homes in Stourbridge, a market town in Dudley, had been fully destroyed and an additional 18 damaged.During a visit to Stourbridge on Friday, Andy Burnham said the UK was like a “tinderbox” and announced the commission of firefighting planes to tackle future Wildfires. “I’ve never seen scenes like this anywhere in Britain,” he told the BBC.The Guardian spoke to people who were forced to hurriedly evacuate from their homes in Stourbridge on Thursday, as a wildfire spread near the town’s golf course.From left: Andy Hobbs, Gemma Hobbs and neighbour John Bairner, were evacuated from their homes on Osmaston Road. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The GuardianThey repeatedly praised the support and efforts of local authorities and neighbours, but are yet to return home, with some staying at a nearby hotel or a makeshift evacuation centre that had been set up at a local boarding school.Gemma Hobbs, 46, and her partner, Andy, 61, were evacuated from their home on Osmaston Road on Thursday, as the Wildfires raged over a mile away. Andy described seeing a house in flames.Gemma said: “I looked out the windows and all I could see was thick black smoke. My husband came home in a bit of a flap and said: ‘We’ve got to get out. We’ve got to get out immediately.’”Andy added: “It’s just the fact you don’t expect something to be as exponential as this so quickly. From the span of the area, it’s over 40 acres, that’s what we’ve been told.”Gareth Jones, 59, was providing shelter to his neighbour John Bairner, who had to be evacuated overnight and said it was a “scene of devastation”, calling the wildfire “terrifying”.“It was probably one of the scariest days of my life yesterday,” he said. “It was just the speed at which it spread, it was devastating. Absolutely frightening how quickly it spread. Within an hour. It’s a major event.”Bairner added: “All of the fields have gone, they’re all black. There’s a lot of residents up there, with buckets, hoses, just dampening down because it’s still smouldering away up there.”Volunteers and helpers handling donations to Old Swinford hospital boarding school in Stourbridge. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The GuardianThe Old Swinford hospital, a boarding school in Stourbridge, was set up as a makeshift evacuation centre for affected people late on Thursday.As queues of cars and volunteers dropped off donations and supplies on Friday, the headteacher of the school, Paul Kilbride, described the fires as a “devastating experience”, with more than 20 people evacuated from a nearby care home.“From what I saw, [the evacuees] were very tired and very anxious. I think they also showed great spirits [and] they obviously want to go home now,” he said. “This community suffered a lot yesterday.”Laurence Green, 66, stayed at the Old Swinford hospital boarding school overnight after he was evacuated from his home on Osmaston Road. Green said he saw “plumes of smoke” on Thursday afternoon before he was directed by police to evacuate to the town hall.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionLaurence Green, evacuated from his home. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian“It’s horrendous … some of the houses look as though they are very badly damaged or completely destroyed,” he said. “People who built up their lives and built up their homes and for some people, it’s all gone.”Green agreed the devastation was a wake-up call for local people and the country about the impact of the climate crisis. “We should have woken up to what’s happening climate wise,” he said, before calling on the government to make the issue a priority.He dismissed the temporary ban on disposable barbecues, announced by Burnham on Friday, as “pathetic” in comparison.“I had a bit of an argument with one of the Conservative councillors about it because I said: ‘It’s due to climate’ and he told me: ‘We shouldn’t be bringing politics into it.’ Well, yes we should.”The Bishop of Dudley, Martin Gorick, was also evacuated from his home and echoed Green’s concerns. He said Climate Change had to be taken seriously and the country had to become less reliant on fossil fuels. “The heat yesterday was extreme,” he said. “That doesn’t happen in England normally.”Bishop Martin Gorick. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian“This is not a divisive issue. It’s something that should bring us all together because we all live in one world. This is our only world.”Gorick described witnessing houses “ablaze” and described it as a “pretty awful sight”.“You see bursts of flame when it hits a tree or something like that. The flame is above the height of houses, it’s big and hot,” he said.The bishop, however, praised the local community for rallying together in the face of the devastation, including individuals who put together a list of medications needed by those who had been evacuated, and local churches and mosques who provided bedding.“The shops responded. People giving away drinks and food,” Gorick said. “It was great to see Muslims and Christians coming together, as well as any volunteers from any background, Sikh, Hindu, no faith were coming together.“That’s the best side of the Black Country, coming together in a crisis.”