Two people have been arrested on suspicion of arson after a large fire damaged four homes in Stoke-on-Trent, police have said.
Arrests and Investigation
Staffordshire Police said they received a call from the local fire service shortly before 4.15pm on Thursday as fire crews responded to a grass fire at the back of Maureen Avenue which was spreading quickly.
A 23-year-old man and 24-year-old woman, both from Stoke-on-Trent, have been arrested on suspicion of arson after the incident, the force added.
The fire in Goldenhill, which has now been brought under control, affected four homes and a number of gardens, police said.
Community Support
Detective Inspector Emma Kempson, from the criminal investigations department, said: “We are continuing to work at pace to investigate the circumstances surrounding yesterday’s fire, which has culminated in the arrests today.
“Goldenhill Community Centre on Drummond Street was set up to provide support to evacuated individuals and others affected.
“We’re now working alongside Stoke-on-Trent City Council and have moved the location to Goldenhill Working Men’s Club on Mobberley Road.”
A local resident said she “couldn’t believe” what was happening as the fire started feet away from her home on Wignall Road and that her nearby friends had lost their homes after the blaze.
She said: “I feel so sorry for them… it started nine feet away from my house.
“I can’t believe it. I could see smoke when I let the dog out and I didn’t know what the hell had happened.
“I’ve got a gas barbecue with gas bottles in the shed – all I could think about was that.
“My friends, two of their houses have gone. It’s completely gone. I’m so sorry for them.”
Devastation and Response
A director based at Goldenhill community centre said the fire had been “devastating” for the community, but local people had rallied together.
Nicola Beresford told the Press Association: “Local takeaways were bringing food for people who were taking refuge here.
“We have had so many members of the community coming in, offering donations.
“We’re now at the point where we physically can’t accept any more and we’re trying to co-ordinate needs with the local authority so we can prioritise each family so we can get aid out to them as quickly as possible.”
It comes after a series of major wildfires engulfed the West Midlands on Thursday evening.
The region’s ambulance said on Friday morning that a total of 54 people have been treated by paramedics, including 19 who were admitted to hospital, following the fire outbreaks.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue service later said six firefighters had been taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion after battling blazes across the county.
The fires led to thousands of 999 calls on Thursday, the UK’s hottest day of the year, a fire chief has said.
In Stourbridge, six patients were treated, including a woman and a boy who were taken to hospital due to the effects of smoke inhalation after a large fire forced people to flee after it started to tear through homes.
Ed Lawrence, the local councillor for Kingswinford North and Wall Heath, said residents who were evacuated as a result of the Stourbridge fire were still unable to go home, and he urged members of the public not to fly drones in the area.
In a separate blaze in Birmingham, a man said he watched his childhood home go up in flames in Highters Heath in which his mother had “lost absolutely everything” – including 100 years of family photos.
Speaking to the Press Association, Andrew Reynolds, 42, said “There’s nothing saveable.”
He described the scene on Thursday night as an “inferno” which destroyed the house his mother has lived in for 34 years.
Mr Reynolds said all his grandmother’s possessions were in the loft and will have been destroyed in the fire.
He said: “(It was) stuff that she treasured that was going to be left to me.
“No monetary value in it whatsoever, just the fact it was my nan’s and my nan was my whole world.
“It’s all gone, including 100 years’ worth of photos from the family.”
He said the fire quickly “ripped through” the houses.
Tony Aldhouse, 62, who also lives on the street, said his garden looks like a “bomb had hit it”.
The fire service said there was a full evacuation of around 50 residents at the blaze at Gorleston Road, where a number of terraced houses have been damaged by the fire.
The Met Office said 38.1C was recorded at Kew Gardens in London on Thursday – the second time this year the country has seen temperatures reach 38C.
The West Midlands was subject to an amber warning for extreme heat for much of Thursday before multiple fires were reported.
Images from blazes across the region show blackened and burnt out buildings with collapsed roofs, as well as charred areas of grass.
