Mother-of-Two Runs for Safety Seconds Before Wildfire Engulfs Family’s ‘Forever Home’

Terrifying doorbell footage captured the moment Rose-Anne Vinten raced through the garden of her Stourbridge home, just seconds before an advancing wildfire engulfed the property she and her husband, Richard, had bought only five months earlier.

The footage, shared by ITV, shows flames sweeping through the garden and tearing washing from the line as the fire rapidly approaches the house. Less than a minute later, the family’s home was consumed, leaving the interior reduced to ash and the property “completely gutted.”

Located just yards from the area known as “millionaire’s row,” the Vintens’ house was among nearly 40 properties damaged or destroyed by wildfires across the West Midlands on Thursday. Paramedics treated 54 patients, while six firefighters were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion after working through the night.

The devastation comes as Britain remains at a “very high” risk of wildfires amid record-breaking temperatures. An emergency alert was sent to millions of mobile phones warning against barbecues, campfires, fireworks and other potential ignition sources, while Andy Burnham called in the military to help tackle a major blaze in south Wales.

In Stourbridge, Ms Vinten said she was only alerted to the blaze when her nine-year-old daughter said ‘look at all the smoke in the horses field’.

And after rushing the children out of the house, Ms Vinten went back to try and dampen the fence in an attempt to stop the spread of the fire.

She said: ‘It was really scary to be honest, it felt like I was in a movie.’

‘I was really scared but I knew at the same time I needed to be brave for my kids, because my daughter was really worried.

‘When I went over to next door and saw them just standing there at the window, looking and they could see that their house was on fire, so I had to just hold it all in.’

Mr Vinten said he only realised the extent of damage to their property when he went back to collect his insulin.

The inferno, which was fuelled by straw-like grass and tinder-dry woodland on the hottest day of the year, whipped across parts of Stourbridge in minutes.

It appears to have started in a nearby farmer’s field, before travelling east across Ounty John Lane, where homes were engulfed.

The fire then surged north and crossed the historic Stourbridge Golf Club, before reaching the gardens of the houses on Melrose Avenue.

Emergency services received thousands of 999 calls and some residents were forced to flee their homes.

This morning, the Prince of Wales thanked the emergency services battling wildfires across the country in a personal statement.

He said: ‘Our thoughts are with everyone affected, particularly those who have lost their homes, and with those working tirelessly to protect communities, homes and the countryside.’

Stourbridge residents Robin and Loxie Williams said the home they have lived in for 26 years had burnt down with ‘everything in it’ gone.

The couple are seeking refuge at their daughter’s home as they wait to hear from their insurance company.

Loxie said: ‘We’re stopping with my daughter at the moment but I don’t know how long for because she’s got her family.

‘It’s just difficult. Everything has gone, completely and it’s just ruined.’

Another homeowner, Paul Cliff, said within minutes of the local WhatsApp group chat lighting up about a wildfire in a nearby farmer’s field, his roof was ablaze.

He called his wife Connie, 60, saying that he was struggling to breathe due to the thick black smoke.

‘It was all adrenaline,’ Mr Cliff told The Times.

‘I had to just focus on how am I gonna get off my drive without getting burned because there were bushes burning on either side of the drive.

‘I had a split second thought, ‘Do I just get my car out?’ But then I couldn’t get through the electric gates [because the fire had disabled them], so I quickly wrote that off and just ran.’

Meanwhile, Nigel John Wright, 61, was in Majorca when he was forced to watch flames engulf his home on footage from his Ring doorbell.

His wife Laura left her phone behind as she sprinted out the house they had owned for 26 years and sped away in the car.

‘I watched my back fence catch light, with flames 20ft in the air as they travelled down the side of my back garden, and then the signal went on my Ring cameras and that was that,’ Mr Wright said.

Around 100 firefighters were sent to tackle the inferno in Stourbridge and a major incident was declared.

Residents said ash was ‘raining down’ amid the ‘very strong’ smoke.

Emergency services are looking into reports that the fires could be linked to Year 13 students lighting barbecues and burning notepads after receiving their exam scores.

A TikTok craze sees some youngsters film themselves lighting up paperwork, with fire investigators now considering whether the activity could have caused the chaos.

West Midlands Fire Service confirmed the rumours were shared with fire crews, who have so far found no direct evidence to support the theory but remain open-minded.

WMFS told the Birmingham Mail: ‘At this stage, we would not want to blame young people or any particular groups of people but our investigations are at an early stage.’

Meanwhile the Government has issued a temporary ban on the sale of disposable barbecues as they pose a ‘significant risk to the public’ due to the ongoing heatwave, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham has called in the military.

Mr Burnham told reporters in Stourbridge yesterday afternoon: ‘Britain is a tinderbox right now, and please just have that in your mind.

‘We’re going to go into the rest of the weekend… This is not over by any means.

‘We’ve got 37 fires smouldering around the country, so it could be more. So please bear that in mind at all times.’