East London firefighters reflect on tackling 2022 wildfires

Memories of the hottest day of summer last year - July 19 - are still vivid in the minds of those who tackled the multiple major fires that were reported across the city.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said it was London Fire Brigade's busiest day since the Second World War.

As temperatures crossed 40 degrees, a wildfire in the village of Wennington near Rainham destroyed more than 19 homes. Another grass fire in Pea Lane in Upminster set more than 15 hectares of a cornfield ablaze, resulting in around 200 people being evacuated.

Many firefighters worked tirelessly to save people and their properties that day in the sweltering heat, some of whom have now been recognised by the Mayor of Havering with a civic award.

Three of them told the Recorder in an interview that, beyond the accolades, it was a day they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Alan Furlong, a 51-year-old station officer from Dagenham fire station, was mobilised as one of the first attendees to Wennington Green.  Upon his arrival at the site, he witnessed two semi-detached houses, five or six cars and some gardens alight.  

Alan Furlong was presented with a Havering Civic award by the Mayor, Councillor Trevor Mckeever (Image: Havering Council)

He found five to six residents trapped at the rear of their homes whom he brought to safety at first.

Alan recalled: “Then there was another old lady sitting upstairs in the bedroom not really knowing what to do, trying to look after her dog and I convinced her that it was prudent to leave.”

Even as they were doing their best to stop the spread of fire, things were blowing up around them. 

Read More: Wennington residents start returning home after fire 'where it’s safe to do so'

He said: “The cars were exploding…cylinders from people’s barbecues were going off…everyone was working so hard to contain the spread."

The incident soon started impacting firefighters physically.

“Some of the chaps were wearing a breathing apparatus, but a few of us weren’t as we were going in and out of the houses." 

Alan himself suffered heat stroke after a few hours of work and had to step away to cool down.

An aerial view of Wennington fire site after the incident (Image: PA Media)

His body temperature soared up to 39 degrees and he had injured his wrist going down an alleyway. 

Looking back at it today, Alan believes the incident, like many others, has left a mental scar on him.

While people had lost their homes, Alan was relieved that they had faced no casualties.

Smoke billows from the scene of a wildfire in Wennington last July (Image: PA)

He said: “I think the key for me is more the loss of life… I know personal possessions mean a lot to people but if you are all still talking at the end of the day, that’s success for me."

Steven King, 38, from Romford fire station’s Red watch unit, was tasked with controlling a grass fire in Pea Lane, Upminster that had spread across acres of land.

There was a community of people living in caravans whom they moved to safety first, Steven said, so the risk of death was eliminated.  There were farms and machinery owned by businesses that were still caught in the fire, he recalled.

Steven King pictured with the Mayor and other winners of the Havering Civic awards at the ceremony (Image: Havering Council)

Owing to the distance that had to be covered, Steven said they had to each work by themselves for a long time.

He shared: “We have got really good communication between each other usually, but when you are on an incident when people are miles apart, that’s hard…you are pushed to your limits but can’t see or hear anyone."

Finding a proper water source to put out the fires of that scale was a challenge they faced.

They needed to stay hydrated themselves, but the resources were sparse.

He added: “When you are in the middle of nowhere and there are about 180 firefighters, it is difficult to stay hydrated…people were working for seven to eight hours at a stretch."

Smoke from the Pea Lane, #Upminster fire affecting the #M25 south of J29 https://t.co/5iOXJ32nBr pic.twitter.com/s7g7eJ7ScN

— BBC Radio London Travel (@BBCTravelAlert) July 19, 2022

What stood out for him on the day was the fact that despite the challenges, not one member of their team complained. Fire crews across the city, he said, were desperate to help each other instead of shying away from the difficulties.

Steven’s crew was on the job for hours and were only done by night time but he was pleased with the outcome.

He recalled: “I remember where we were, there were about four to five fields of crop around that we were told was worth a lot of money to local businesses and all of them were protected."

Joe Downs, 37, oversaw the Hornchurch crew that day and was deployed to multiple sites outside of the borough.

Joe Downs collecting his Havering Civic Award (Image: Havering Council)

In Wembley, a row of shops were on fire with people trapped in flats above and cars in the front ablaze. Joe and his crew got them to safety and had the challenge of getting access to the shops and save people’s livelihoods.

We've got eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters tackling this blaze in #Wembley Our Control Room has taken more than 40 calls to the fire https://t.co/G44ZOBnqaK https://t.co/IS28sv7U4K

— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 19, 2022

He echoed Alan and Steve in saying that the day was so busy, his crew was being mobilised to one incident after the other.

He said: “All the brigades on that day just worked so well together… things have changed from years ago when you wouldn’t have as much to do and then you have this day when everyone just got to work together like it was just one organisation."

Even as they share their successes, they also reflected on things that can have gone better.

Alan adds: "If we had similar things happen this year during the summer there’s lessons there that we probably did learn from last time."

Their main reward comes from helping people, they believe, but receiving the Havering civic award was a cherry on the cake.

Steve added: “As a community, we sometimes undervalue the contributions of our emergency services, so it is good to get a little bit of a recognition for our efforts."