Three blazes started ‘deliberately’ at Sutton Park - urgent warning issued

Three out of four fires at Sutton Park last weekend were started deliberately, West Midlands Fire Service believes.

Fifty firefighters tackled the three separate blazes on Saturday (July 1), which threatened to spread quickly due to wind conditions aided with nine fire engines and two 4x4 brigade response vehicles. They also used drone pilots to track the fires.

This was followed by another fire on Sunday (July 2), in which 21 firefighters extinguished a fire affecting gorse, heathland and grassland near the Toby Carvery on Chester Road. It is not believed that this was started deliberately.

These fires followed a blaze on Monday (June 26), close to Longmoor Pool attended by 12 firefighters. Three days later on Thursday (June 29) firefighters extinguished a heathland fireand - and in another incident last week 15 firefighters tackled a blaze on an area of grass and scrubland close to the Banners Gate area of the park.

A fire in Sutton Park can be truly devastating as it is a National Nature Reserve with historic landscape covering 2,000 acres. It attracts more than two million visits every year. Not only does it give a sense of wilderness in an urbanscape but is an important site for wildlife and conservation, containing open heathland, woodlands, wetlands, marshes and lakes each with their own rich variety of plants and wildlife, some rarely seen in the region.

What West Midlands Fire Service said

Operations Commander Jason Holt said the number of fires attended by West Midlands Fire Service in the park over the past week is a concern.

He said: “Our crews have responded to and extinguished six fires in Sutton Park in just a week. This included a particularly serious spate of incidents on Saturday afternoon, which are believed to have been started deliberately.

“At the height of the third fire on Saturday, we had 11 appliances in attendance and around 50 firefighters. Such incidents place unnecessary demand on our fire control and firefighting teams, potentially diverting our crews from unavoidable emergencies.

“We pride ourselves on our five-minute attendance standard, but incidents like these threaten to stop us from reaching people in need in that time. These fires also put our crews, members of the public, animals and wildlife at avoidable risk, and we would urge those responsible to stop.”

Anyone with information should contact the police on 101 or via their live chat, or make an anonymous call to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.