After over 70 firemen were sent to a massive fire in west London this evening, dozens of residences were evacuated.
The fire, which started amid the trees, hedgerows, bushes, and decking at the back of a number of residences on Hereford Road in Feltham, was visible from aircraft landing nearby and occurred less than two miles from Heathrow airport.
In one dramatic video, smoke clouds can be seen rising from nearby homes and even the air, while in another, a back garden is engulfed in blazing orange flames.
Some locals claim to have heard a huge explosion. One person who lives nearby said on social media, “Me and my dad heard a tremendous blast almost like a bomb or explosion.”
‘Firefighters have fought really hard in hot, tough circumstances to avoid the wildfire spreading to surrounding houses,’ said station commander Tamer Ozdemir, who is now on the site.
About 30 houses on Hereford Road have been preserved because to their labor of love.
The volume of smoke forced the evacuation of around 60 households.
“Our drone team is on the site helping responders find further hot spots in the nearby woods,” the statement said.
Around 5 o’clock, best-selling novelist Robert Harris arrived at the largest airport in the UK and posted video of the fire on Twitter.
Coming in to arrive at Heathrow shortly before 5 o’clock today, he said. fields that have burned. The flames!
Because certain gas cylinders might explode when exposed to heat, crews have removed a number of them that were involved in the incident.
Crews from Hillingdon, Kingston, Southall, Surbiton, Tooting, and other fire stations responded to 44 calls made to 999 starting at 4.30 p.m.
At this time, it is unknown what started the fire.
In reaction to the incident, local roads have been blocked by emergency services, including the A312 Harlington Road East, which is closed at the intersection of the A312 Uxbridge Road. Additionally, traffic moves slowly along the Hanworth Road detour.
According to MyLondon, there is no interruption at Heathrow as a consequence.
According to a spokeswoman, flights are still landing and taking off from the airport, so the fire is not interfering with business as usual.
It is the second fire to strike Feltham in a week; on Monday, almost 100 firemen were sent to put out a grass fire.
On that occasion, when a jet approached the airport, a big plume of smoke could be seen soaring into the sky from a field close to Hatton Road.
A ‘huge quantity’ of smoke was being created, according to a tweet from the London Fire Brigade, and around six hectares of grassland were on fire.