Fire which devastated Sutton Coldfield park is blamed on disposable barbecue
Firefighters spent hours battling a fire which devastated huge swathes of a popular park.
The blaze took hold at Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield on Saturday afternoon (July 5), destroying an area of the park around the size of three football pitches.
Firefighters were called at 3.40pm to to the fire, near Boldmere Gate, with more than 50 firefighters tackling the blaze. 12 fire engines and four more brigade response vehicles were called into action.
The crews spent around six hours tackling the blaze using hose reel and main jets, while the fire brigade also used thermal imaging drones to support the incident.
West Midlands Fire Service said the fire was found to have been caused by a park user using a disposable barbecue.
A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: “At 3.40pm on Saturday, July 5, we responded to a large fire at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield.
“The fire involved grassland and shrubbery, covering an area of approximately 100m by 200m.
“Over the course of the incident, 12 fire engines and four brigade response vehicles attended.
"One of our thermal imaging drones was also deployed to support the response.
“Firefighters used hose reels and main jets to tackle the flames, spending several hours damping down and turning over hotspots. There were no reported casualties.
“Following an investigation, the fire has been confirmed as accidental, caused by a disposable barbecue.
“At around 2pm on Sunday, July 6, a crew revisited the site to check for any remaining signs of fire, smoke, or hotspots.”
Sutton Park rangers posted a message of thanks to the fire service on social media.
The message read: “An enormous thank you to the absolutely huge response from West Midlands Fire Service who mustered at one point 10 appliances from across the region to fight yet another large and extremely serious fire in the park.
“Our rangers were also on scene to close the park down to traffic and to evacuate the Flying Field car park via Banners Gate.
“The fire service stood down at approximately 9.30pm after almost six hours on site.
“The site will be inspected overnight and again throughout tomorrow.”
