Shocking photos have shown the ‘apocalyptic’ aftermath of the Stourbridge wildfire that has left many homes gutted.
Workmen were seen clearing rubble from the luxury pads along Racecourse Lane on Sunday (August 16) after the horror blaze left almost 40 homes either destroyed or damaged.
Many residents have now been taken back to the scene by emergency service crews to see what is left of their homes, if anything, after the devastating fire on Thursday (August 13).
West Midlands Fire Service confirmed 19 homes in the area, where houses average £1 million, were destroyed, while 18 were left with fire damage.
Network Rail workers were spotted examining the tracks after the fire scorched the railway embankments.
Neighbour Neil Perry raced back from work 20 miles away to help farmers stop the fire from spreading.
Mr Perry said: “I was in the thick of it on Thursday afternoon with the farmers trying to stop. It came over the field on Thursday and it was very quick.
“We were throwing water along the hedgerow to stop it. We could’ve lost our houses and the rest of the road, so we were quite lucky it didn’t get the whole of Worcester Road. The quick-thinking and the bravery of people made all the difference. I feel sorry for the people who have lost their homes.
“The houses were literally exploding while we were in the fields, it was apocalyptic. The farmers did ploughing up, we got a water bowser in the field. The speed the fire came across the field, you couldn’t have outrun it.
“We couldn’t get a fire engine down here initially. It caught everybody out at the speed of the fire. It was something that was life changing for me and for so many. I raced back from work, I belted back because you could see the smoke 20 miles away.
“A lot of people did a lot of good – I knew a lady who saved horses. A lot of people did things they shouldn’t be doing because of the fire, there were a lot of heroes. Mr Wilkes was in the field in the tractor. Another farmer came with a huge water bowser on his tractor.
“Mr Wilkes was ploughing in a fire break to try and slow it, it was all hands to the pump, and an incredible spirit.”
Another neighbour said: “When I came across the road there was a fire in the field and that fire went right across the field, and this is where the houses caught fire.
“There was the other fire along Racecourse Lane – they reckon it must be about 500 acres that it’s affected.
“It was horrible. How quickly the fire was moving was horrendous.
“It was really fast the way it moved across the field.
“The farmer was trying to do his best to stop it, but he hadn’t stopped it and it reached the trees by the houses.
“By that time it hit the houses. You don’t normally see this time of thing in this country, it’s not normally this hot.
“It’s normally associated with Australia this sort of thing.”
Andrew Jones, another local, said: “We were in our garden on Thursday and we could smell smoke and thought someone had lit a bonfire.
“Then we could hear sirens and then we got ash in our garden and the smoke got quite heavy.
“It excluded the sun and we thought no more of it.
“We saw it on Facebook after.
“We walk along here regularly, these are probably £1.5 million houses.
“But it doesn’t matter the value of the houses, they’ve got to live in a hotel for six months, lost all their possessions and family stuff. It’s horrible.”
Barry Guest, aged 83, has lived in his home on Racecourse Lane for 32 years and said the fire damaged his rear garden and firefighters had to smash down his electric gates and side door.
Mr Guest said: “The police came and we were sat in our lounge and we weren’t aware of anything that was happening.
“We went outside and looked out the back and we saw the smoke. It moved across, right across Norton Road. As soon as it got by the railway embankment it came down here.
“We watched the smoke and the flames race across the field, and then when it reached the railway line and the embankment took light, then we knew we had a problem.
“Then it leapt from one side of the embankment to the other. Our back garden goes down to the railway embankment. It destroyed the conifer trees all along the border.
“By the time it reached our bungalow, the only thing it managed to do was buckle the drainage pipe. By the time it reached us the fire brigade had reached it in time. But getting to it they had to dismantle the electric gates, break those. If they hadn’t done that we’d have lost it.”
