Cabinet member tells of shock and disbelief after fire

A Dudley councillor who fought the Stourbridge wildfire says victims were 'frightened' and 'in shock'.

Cabinet member for resources, Cllr Steve Clark, represents the Norton ward where the blaze started and fought off flames in woodland called The Covert to prevent the fire spreading to homes on Greyhound Lane, Sandy Lane and the Broadway. 

Around 300 people were evacuated from the scene near Racecourse Lane and, as the drama unfolded, Cllr Clark visited displaced residents who were being sheltered at Stourbridge Town Hall.

Cllr Clark said: “There was a lot of people in shock, it was disbelief, you see these things on television about how wildfires wreck places and to have it on your doorstep is very traumatic.

“There is going to be a lot of people worn out and in shock, it’s tragic but the speed was phenomenal. Within half an hour there were residents that had to get out of their house, it developed that quickly.”

He added: “You have to feel for the people who have lost everything, it’s awful. They have lost all their treasured items that they have had all their lives, there were some older people there that will have lost their lifetime’s collection of whatever they had got.

“We have got some friends in France at the moment that don’t know yet that their house is gone.”

Cllr Clark described how he was one of the first on the scene to fight the flames before heading to a meeting of the council’s cabinet to present budget reports.

He said: “From the bedroom window we noticed the fire, we all started smelling the fire and there was an emergency call from one of the residents at the bottom of Sandy Road because the flames were getting into The Covert so everybody piled in.

“I was there for two or three hours hosing down the trees, we were right next to the fire line and all we were doing was holding it at bay until the fire brigade got there.

“When I arrived at cabinet I hadn’t had a shower, I stank of smoke and had to apologise to the officers next to me.”

He added council officers are ready to begin the clean up of areas hit by the blaze as soon as the emergency services declare the area safe.

The council will be offering people help in a variety of ways including housing, mental health support and providing items like vital medication which may have been lost in the fire.

Cllr Clark also praised the authority’s response as the emergency unfolded, he said: “Everybody played a major part in terms of making sure they got places open, we got beds available and making sure people were supported.

“They got constant updates so that they understood and knew what was going on.”