Behaviours need to change warns chief fire officer after Pershore blaze

A fire that began in the garden of a home in Pershore turned into a fast-moving blaze – the kind of “escalation” the county’s fire chief describes as becoming far more common in the dry conditions.

Three homes were destroyed in the town centre on Thursday as dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes and hundreds left without power.

The government sent out an emergency alert on Friday across England and Wales, warning people not to light anything that could cause a fire.

Hereford and Worcester’s Chief Fire Officer, Jon Pryce, said that unless people change everyday habits, more small sparks will turn into the kind of devastation seen across the West Midlands in the last week.

On Three Springs Road, neighbours watched the fire move with a speed they had never seen before. Embers blew across gardens, fences caught one after another, and trees “went in seconds”, leaving residents with only minutes to react.

Six people were treated at the scene, and more than 30 homes were evacuated as crews tried to stop the fire jumping between cul‑de‑sacs.

Around the corner on Lancelot Court, builder, Michael Ruff, returned home to find embers flying “everywhere” and heard a series of explosions from a nearby property.

He said within ten minutes, his own house was ablaze with a large section of the roof missing, windows have blown out, and ash drifting across the garden.