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LFB’s urgent appeal for greater care to prevent grass fires

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Escape: no homes were damaged when fire took hold in Norbury in June. But open spaces and parks are now tinder dry

The London Fire Brigade has issued an urgent public warning for people to take greater care to avoid the risk of starting grass fires during the current heatwave.

An amber warning for extreme heat between today and Sunday across parts of the country including London has been issued by the Met Office.

A lack of rainfall in July and August means grass is extremely dry and the Met Office’s Fire Severity Index shows an exceptional risk in London from tomorrow.

London Fire Brigade’s control room has mobilised thousands of firefighters to 340 grass, rubbish and open land fires during the first week of August – an eightfold increase on the 42 during the same week last year.

Croydon has already had a series of fires requiring the attendance of emergency services, including a blaze in the Addington Hills last month, and then on Tuesday, an incident at a waste transfer centre on Featherbed Lane, which needed four fire engines and 25 firefighters to bring under control.

There were no reports of any injuries, after 16½ tons of general waste caught light. The fire brigade had the blaze under control inside an hour. The cause of the fire is now under investigation.

In Norbury in June, half-a-dozen householders had what appeared to be a lucky escape after they were evacuated when a playing field caught fire. There, the worst damage was to a couple of garden sheds – but more recently, when a similar grass fire took hold in Wennington, near Romford in Essex, the blaze rapidly spread and destroyed a row of houses, leaving residents shocked, and homeless.

Call outs: LFB’s data on the number of incidents attended in the first few days of August 2021, compared to this year

It is this kind of out-of-control conflagration the LFB is seeking to avoid now.

As it issued its warning this morning, the LFB said, “Resources are in place for the heatwave, but firefighters are again asking people to take action during the dry weather to prevent fires from happening in the first place.”

Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Smith said, “This summer has seen an unprecedented long, dry spell with high temperatures so the grass in London is tinderbox dry and the smallest of sparks can start a blaze which could cause devastation.

“Despite our continued warning over the last few weeks, we know there are still people who are barbecuing in parks, dropping cigarettes out of car windows and leaving rubbish lying around.

Under pressure: the LFB control room has seen the number of calls it receives spiral this month

“We really need to prevent a repeat of the situation we saw on July 19, when homes, shops, garages, outbuildings and vehicles were destroyed across London in a number of significant fires.

“So please – we are asking Londoners to help us protect the city we all love by doing everything you can to prevent further grass fires. Please don’t barbecue in open spaces or balconies, throw your rubbish away safely and put your cigarettes out properly.”

The number of calls that London Fire Brigade’s control room officers have taken has also significantly increased in recent weeks. Between July 18 and August 7 this year, 18,603 calls were taken, compared to 12,102 calls in the same period last year.

Grass fire prevention

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