A woman evacuated from her home in Stourbridge has described seeing flames from her bedroom window as a huge fire spread across the area. Jane Baxter, whose house backs onto Stourbridge Golf Course, said the blaze was well above the rooftops of evacuated homes and was spreading rapidly in multiple directions.
Evacuation and panic
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Baxter said police knocked on her door and told residents to evacuate immediately because the fire was changing direction. “The police knocked our door and said that everyone had to be evacuated quickly because they thought the fire was changing directions, and they didn’t know which direction it was going in,” she said.
“So, it was literally grab what you need and get out. And within about four or five minutes, the police knocked the door again and said: ‘You really have got to get out now’.” Ms Baxter and her husband left with their cat and went to their son’s house.
Flames above rooftops
Ms Baxter described the scene: “Just literally 200 yards away from us, we could see the flames from our bedroom window. They were well above the rooftops of all the houses that had been evacuated, so you could just see the extent of it.” She added that the fire was “spreading so fast and going in quite a few different directions across the fields”.
The smell in the air was “horrendous”, she said, describing it as “a really choking smell”.
Insurer response
Meanwhile, insurer Aviva said it has been helping customers whose homes were destroyed in the wildfires across the West Midlands. The group’s chief executive, Dame Amanda Blanc, said the firm worked overnight to help and rehouse two customers whose properties in Stourbridge were destroyed.
“It must be horrendous for customers who have had their homes destroyed by the fires,” Dame Amanda said. She said the group’s immediate priority has been to find alternative accommodation for those affected. “Our thoughts are always with impacted customers,” she added.
