HAVERING WILDFIRES: How Many Were Arson And How Much Has Been Lost?
Havering has endured a relentless summer of grass and heathland fires, with two further fires reported on Berwick Pond Road in Rainham on Sunday 16 August.
The repeated blazes have left residents asking a difficult question: how many of these fires were deliberately started?
At present, there is no confirmed borough-wide figure showing how many of Havering’s fires this summer have been formally classed as arson.
What we do know is that police are investigating suspected deliberate fires, while at least one recent case has resulted in a man being charged. A 53-year-old man was arrested after police received reports of someone deliberately setting fires at Cottons Park in Romford on 14 August. He was subsequently charged and remanded to appear in court.
Police have also previously arrested a 17-year-old on suspicion of arson and theft of a motor vehicle as part of enquiries into the wider fires. He was released on bail pending further enquiries.
But it is important to stress that not every fire has been confirmed as deliberate. The cause of individual incidents remains a matter for investigation.
London Fire Brigade has recorded repeated major fires across Rainham and the surrounding area. On 9 August, around four hectares of heathland at Berwick Pond Road were damaged, with six fire engines and around 40 firefighters attending.
The environmental cost is already clear.
Forestry England has revealed that more than 12 hectares at Ingrebourne Hill have been damaged by recent fires alone. The organisation described the damage to grassland and trees as “devastating”.
The affected land provides habitat and wildlife corridors for breeding birds, butterflies and other species. Forestry England has also warned that the repeated fires are making it difficult to establish new trees.
There is currently no reliable figure for the number of animals killed or displaced by the fires, so it would be wrong to put a number on the wildlife lost.
What is beyond dispute is that valuable habitat has been destroyed.
And there is another cost — our firefighters.
Crews have repeatedly been called to large fires across Havering during extremely hot and dry conditions. At one Rainham blaze in July, around 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines were deployed to a fire which affected approximately four hectares of grassland.
Forestry England is urging people not to light campfires or barbecues, including disposable barbecues, to take litter home and to ensure cigarettes are properly extinguished.
Anyone who sees a wildfire or suspects somebody is deliberately starting one should call 999 immediately.
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Ask yourself this, why do so many of these fires start in different places on the same land at the same time. In my opinion looks like arson.