London's Burning

[ThePumpkinPatch]

I can't believe what I've just seen on the news... I'm genuinely gobsmacked and really praying for all those affected.

How do these temperatures set so many buildings alight in London, when hot countries (who predominantly have homes built of wood & to a lesser standard) don't? I know there's wildfires but they're usually started in woodlands/foliage (that haven't seen a single drop of rain in months) aren't they?

I guess I'm just shocked that that it obviously has been hot enough to set buildings alight 😳 Those images on Sky News are what I've always imagined the end of the world to look like and it's shocked me. Here in North Yorkshire it's currently 35° (was 40° earlier) but thankfully it's very windy - as always.

Ive just created a post too. Absolutely horrific.

Sure i heard on sky it was an explosion in a scrapyard?

Oh sorry! I didn't see it. I did look but was surprised to not find a topic for 'Current Events' or 'News'

Oh was it??? Sky Mews were initially reporting it was due to the heatwave. Apparently there's fires all over London & Kent?

I imagine hot countries play with fire less: we’re idiots for disposable barbecues. I can imagine someone on our terrace doing one in the scorched gardens and the whole street going up like a tinderbox.

It seems to be mostly huge grass fires that spread to homes rather than buildings directly catching fire. Similar happened where I live during the 2018 heatwave but fortunately the fire brigade seemed able to get things under control more quickly that time.

Many of the fires where I live were caused by arson, hope that's not the case here.

theres several fires across the country...one near me not even made the news

Could well be another fire started by an explosion then.

Yes I wouldn't be overly surprised if one of these fires originated from a disposable BBQ.
I live in a town which has acres & acres of fields in the centre of town and there's always small fires from BBQs, even though doing anything other than walking your dog or flying a kite, is prohibited! 🤦🏼‍♀️

On the news just now they mentioned a compost heap overheating. I have, myself, seen a pile of grass cuttings start to smoulder but I don't know how you prevent it.

BBC are saying it's dry patches of grass catching light and spreading. There's plenty of grass, even in London.
London fire brigade have urged people not to have BBQs or bonfires today as the ground is so dry even a small spark can catch and escalate rapidly.

www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-07-19/fire-crews-tackle-blaze-at-wildlife-park-home-to-thousands-of-birds

Lots of fires near me. This one is devastating.

Wildfires are pretty common - both here and in other countries. It's a problem if it gets too close to houses or buildings but if not they generally let them burn out.

There were 2 massive ones in 2018 - one over Manchester/Lancashire and the other in Dorset & Wiltshire.

Let's hope no one has been silly enough to BBQ on dry grass.

They are grassland fires that have spread, the buildings didn't just burst into flames.

And "other" countries do have these fires, they've been all over Europe for the last few weeks.

Other countries also have BBQ bans for prlonged hot/dry spells, whereas Brits think the hottest days in history are the best time to light a fire.

wasn't there a story in the news the other day about some twat putting a disposable barbecue - still alight - in a wheely bin? Probably morons like this.

I think at least one was due to overhead powerlines on the train overheating. And a friend said her garden was randomly smouldering yesterday so not always people behaving irresponsibly. And I've heard of fires in Spain, Greece, France and Portugal in the last week so not just here

when hot countries (who predominantly have homes built of wood & to a lesser standard) don't?

Huh? Of course they do. The hottest place in Canada during their heat event burned to the ground. California spends all summer on fire. The poor Australians.

someone mentioned Eid fireworks being a fire hazard....on a thread last night. they were shouted down

The trouble is it really doesn't take much to start it when the ground and vegetation is as dry as it is. Grass burns hot and fast and spreads so so rapidly.
Really feel for the families who have lost homes today. The houses on the news looked like they had been completely destroyed. I really hope nobody was hurt

I live somewhere (northern England) that gets wildfires every year and 99% of them are caused by disposable BBQs.

Like the OP, my heart absolutely goes out to the people who live in those houses. What a terrible shock. And I can’t help thinking of their pets, locked inside. So sad.

One thing I’ve noticed is that there don’t seem to be firebreaks between the grasslands/forests and the houses. Maybe this is one of the things other countries do differently?

It only takes a spark to set dry grass alight.

I literally watched it happen outside my window once. A playground was being taken down in our estate and a spark from a metal grinder set the grass alight. It spread very quickly and had me and the neighbours dashing out with buckets and hosepipes.

Don't be misled by the media referring to the fires being in 'London' - they're in semi-rural places on the edge of greater London.

The London ones (plural) are making the news more because a major emergency has been declared.

And its not just the one in Essex (8 houses and the church affected) but also Dartford (A2 still partly closed) and about 7 other sites inc the wooded bits of Croydon (quite large)

They are having to triage calls by threat to life.