A total of 54 people have been treated by paramedics, including 19 who were admitted to hospital, after wildfires broke out across the West Midlands, the region’s ambulance service said.
The blazes led to thousands of 999 calls on Thursday, the UK’s hottest day of the year, a fire chief said.
In an update on Friday morning, West Midlands Ambulance Service said they had attended “a number of serious fires” across the region “as hot and dry conditions continue”.
The fires included one on Norton Road in Stourbridge, where a total of six patients were treated including a woman and a boy who were taken to hospital due to the effects of smoke inhalation.
West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust chief executive Anthony Marsh said in a statement that Thursday had been an “extremely busy day for our crews”, adding that he was “immensely proud” of his staff.
He said: “With the hot and dry weather we have encountered, we would ask everyone to take extra care and think about the risks before lighting fires or undertaking activities that could cause them.
“Please also use 999 wisely and only call us when you have a genuine emergency, so our crews can get to those who need us most.”
