Brigade issues urgent warning after London's largest ever grass fire

The fire in Wanstead Flats which broke out at around 4pm yesterday, Sunday July 15, was so extensive it can be defined as a wildfire.

The blaze was brought under control by 220 firefighters with more than 40 engines from fire stations across London and around 100 firefighters remain at the scene today to saturate the grassland.

LFB is now concerned that there will be further incidents if the public doesn’t take greater care during the heatwave.

London Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton, said: “This weekend we dealt with the largest grass fire in our history, as well as a range of other serious fires on grassland.

“The ground is extremely dry at the moment and grassland and parks will act like a tinderbox when exposed to even the smallest of sparks.

“I never thought I’d say this but we are praying for rain.

“We are calling on the public to take steps to prevent grass fires: don’t drop cigarettes or matches on dry ground or out of car windows; don’t have barbecues on dry grass or parks and don’t leave glass bottles out as they can concentrate the sun’s rays and start a blaze.

“Grass fires spread like lightening so if you see dry grass smouldering, please call 999 and report it immediately so that firefighters can deal with it and stop it from spreading.”

The Wanstead fire, which covered an area roughly the size of 100 football pitches, is one of a series of grass fires the Brigade were called to over the weekend.

On Sunday, it dealt with grass fires in Woodford Green, Feltham and Ockendon, Essex.

Since the beginning of the year, the Brigade has dealt with 821 grass fires.

It is urging Londoners to never leave camp fires or barbecues unattended and extinguish them properly after use and dispose of cigarettes and matches safely.

After a picnic, bottles, glasses and any broken glass should be removed from grassland to avoid them magnifying the sun and starting a fire.