Stourbridge wildfire families start returning home; 19 properties destroyed

Residents who fled the devastating Stourbridge wildfires have begun returning to their properties, three days after the fires tore through several streets on Thursday — the hottest day of the year so far in England and Wales. West Midlands Fire Service confirmed that 19 properties across five streets were completely destroyed.

The scale of destruction

The affected streets — Brunswick Gate, Landsgate, Ounty John Lane, Quarry Park Road and Racecourse Lane — were placed under a cordon. Officials began calling residents forward individually to inform them whether it was safe to return, whether their home needed significant repairs or whether it had been lost entirely. Aerial images showed the fires' randomness: some houses had burned completely to the ground while neighbouring properties remained entirely intact.

Dudley Council chief executive Balvinder Heran said 96 evacuated households had escaped damage, allowing 85 families to return. Thirteen households whose homes suffered damage were also allowed back. Eight families learned their properties now exist only as shells.

'It's a miracle no one has died'

An anonymous firefighter who spoke to the BBC described scenes unlike anything in his 23-year career. "We have not stopped — no food, no rest, it's onto the next one," he said, describing a relentless series of fires across the region. "Fire spreads so, so fast and it's a miracle that no one has died."

He said he had "never prayed for rain so much" as the crews worked through conditions without respite. The Stourbridge fires were among dozens that broke out across England and Wales on Thursday amid an extreme heat event. Military personnel have since been deployed to support crews in south Wales, where fires continue to burn.