Dudley councillor Steve Clark, cabinet member for resources, fought the Stourbridge wildfire that is believed to have damaged 45 homes, and then attended a council cabinet meeting still smelling of smoke. The blaze started in woodland called The Covert in the Norton ward, which Cllr Clark represents.
Around 300 people were evacuated from the area near Racecourse Lane as the fire spread overnight. Cllr Clark visited displaced residents who were being sheltered at Stourbridge Town Hall.
Residents in shock after losing homes and treasured possessions
Cllr Clark described the scene: "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."
He added: "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."
The councillor said around 45 homes were damaged, and the council is ready to help in any way possible. He expressed sympathy for those who lost everything: "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."
Cllr Clark's firsthand account of battling the flames
Cllr Clark was one of the first on the scene. 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."
He continued: "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."
After the firefighting efforts, he headed to a cabinet meeting to present budget reports. He said: "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."
Council clean-up and support plans
Cllr Clark said council officers are ready to begin the clean-up of areas hit by the blaze as soon as emergency services declare the area safe. The council will offer help including housing, mental health support, and providing vital items like medication that may have been lost in the fire.
He praised the council's response: "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."
The fire also affected friends of Cllr Clark, as he noted: "We have got some friends in France at the moment that don't know yet that their house is gone."
