OV9

Jeez that’s awful Jobbo…

I guess from the tone of your post they couldn’t?

Don’t know of this will work but the link is to a video of a
Wildfire we encountered a few years back on a scout campsite, thankfully didn’t hit the area where any kids camp, and was controlled quickly- this shows how amazing quick these things can move

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e7cHM3 ... f09C561ZjA

jamcg wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2026 10:35 pm I guess from the tone of your post they couldn’t?

He thinks it’s just been licked by flame outside but he wasn’t able to go back last night. I think it’s still standing but will have suffered smoke damage. It’s a few doors along from this one which another friend viewed and considered buying about 15 years ago:



So the answer is: don’t know, but cautiously optimistic.

Jobbo wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2026 6:21 am

jamcg wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2026 10:35 pm I guess from the tone of your post they couldn’t?

He thinks it’s just been licked by flame outside but he wasn’t able to go back last night. I think it’s still standing but will have suffered smoke damage.

Nightmare. Having experienced similar, at the least it’ll likely be a top to bottom redecorate, new carpets etc and it won’t be liveable while the smoke damage is still present. Then there’s dealing with insurance and trades. Could easily have been far worse but still a shit situation.

Yeah, I did say to him about the smoke damage. People are still not able to get back to their homes for a couple of days so even assessing what needs doing isn't possible yet. Hopefully the fire service will prevent anything reigniting.

The side return part of someone’s front garden was on fire during my morning walk yesterday. Some people had walked past it, so I stopped to see what was going on. A dude was getting in his car nearby so I asked if he knew them, he said “I think they’re burning it on purpose”, which is fcuking retarded, so I pointed out that having a bonfire in this weather is ridiculously irresponsible and dangerous. Anyway, the house owners weren’t around so got some water from another neighbour and we put it out. Must have been someone flicking a cigarette into their garden which did it. Was only a small fire, yet also mad that it happened in the first place.

People have been having bonfires in this weather - I saw on a local Facebook group people complaining about one in a village about 10 miles from us last night. Idiotic; around us, Stourbridge, Salford Priors and Pershore all had pretty substantial fires yesterday.

Some locals here were remembering a young kid who died a few years back in a car accident on the anniversary...

So they set of fireworks...

And set fire to the commonage...

"People" are fucking idiots

Even the army aren’t immune to it. During the heatwave a few years ago they held a training exercise and set fire to a field with their flares. My electrician nearly lost his home!
Seems it’s a common thing though https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy08j04je2jo
Perhaps some bowsers wouldn’t go amiss.

The scenes from Stourbridge are horrific. I can't imagine what it must be like to see the fire approaching and then watch it engulf you and your neighbours houses

On a local level we've escaped any major fires but the local farm yards are absolutely honking in this heat, yeah we'll cope

I think the farmers here are worried as there’s quite a few ploughed fields now and no one like to plough during a drought as it beats the crap out of the machinery.

Jobbo wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2026 9:41 pm

Matty wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2026 7:03 pm

Mito Man wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2026 6:38 pm West Midlands
The aerial shots make it look like the whole area has been napalmed

Something something "hundreds and thousands of pounds of improvements" etc.

You know Stourbridge, Matt - those are the most expensive houses in town on fire. Had to send people home early due to the smoke. It’s tragic; a friend was watching his CCTV from the pub to see if the fire brigade could save his house.

That was ill-spoken on my part. I didn't realise where this was, or the extent as I'd not seen the news, assumed it was field fires from Mito's comment, and usual tongue-in-cheek comment about the West Mids as a whole. It is indeed, terrible for those affected. I did check on some friends in Stourbridge when I saw, thankfully not in their area but not everyone has been as lucky.