A hundred firefighters were deployed to control the fire which spread over an area of forty hectares.
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A hundred firefighters were deployed on Tuesday, July 19, to fight a fire that raged in a village east of London. According to images taken from a Sky News helicopter, the fire swept through fields and destroyed several buildings and houses in the village of Wennington, about thirty kilometers from the center of the British capital.
The fire spread over an area of forty hectares, including homes, agricultural buildings and garages, firefighters said in a statement at the end of the day. Fourteen people had to be evacuated because of the disaster, the origin of which is not determined at this stage.
BREAKING: A large fire has broken out and has spread to a residential area in Wennington, Greater London as temperatures exceed 40C in the UK for the first time.https://t.co/tZQg6n04ME
Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/pdnEDru8DH
—Sky News (@SkyNews) July 19, 2022
“I was sunbathing in my garden and a black cloud arrived”, Ciar Meadows, a 30-year-old housewife, told AFP. “Within one hour”, fire “spread to our house”, “our cars have disappeared”. Rescue “Broken down our door so the animals could get out happily, because I couldn’t come back as we were evacuated“, she said, explaining that she is now waiting for news from her house.
Faced with “several large fires across the capital during the record heat wave”, on Tuesday, the fire brigade of London launched an emergency procedure which allows to deploy more resources in terms of rescue services. A dozen fires have been recorded around the capital, affecting in particular grass areas in suburban areas of London.