Andy Burnham has shared his horror over wildfires raging through the West Midlands, warning that “Britain is a tinderbox right now”.
The Prime Minister was speaking during a visit to Stourbridge, where 54 people were left injured during the “apocalyptic” scenes.
There are currently 37 significant incidents across England and Wales, with four classed as major wildfire incidents.
Addressing the incident after meeting some of those affected, Mr Burnham said the scenes were “utterly devastating” for people who had been forced out of their homes and “lost everything”.
He praised firefighters, police and ambulance crews working across the country, saying thousands of firefighters were carrying out “backbreaking work” in extreme heat.
Describing the devastation he saw in Stourbridge, the Prime Minister admitted the scale of destruction had shocked him.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he revealed.
“When I dealt with wildfires in Greater Manchester, but nothing on this scale, I’ve never seen scenes like this in Britain, where you just see a whole house gutted. Smouldering.”
Andy Burnham has issued a dire warning to the public as the nation tackles wildfires
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“You can imagine how distressing that is for them, and you feel for them that kids have had to go elsewhere.
“It’s just unbelievably devastating for people in this position.”
The Prime Minister said the Government had deployed military personnel to support the major incidents, and had also commissioned national aerial firefighting support.
He said emergency financial aid would be provided to badly affected fire and rescue services, while the insurance industry has assured victims they will receive immediate support.
The scenes in Stourbridge where two casualties have been confirmed so far by the fire service | X / @M4TTNOODLES
Mr Burnham said the various support packages were aimed at getting those hit by the fires “back to where they should be as soon as possible”.
Nevertheless, he also urged people to remain vigilant as the fires continue, warning the situation was “not over by any means”.
“We’ve got 37 fires smouldering around the country so that it could be more,” he said.
“Please, everybody take the greatest of care. In fact, don’t light anything in an outdoor space right now.”
A temporary ban on disposable barbecues has also taken effect, with Mr Burnham urging the public not to light fires or bonfires and to take extreme care when disposing of cigarettes.
“Britain is a tinderbox right now,” he warned.
The Prime Minister also used his visit to warn of the wider impact of climate change, saying the Government needed to ensure fire and rescue services were properly equipped to deal with increasingly severe weather.
“We need to face up to the changing climate”, he said, calling for the transition to clean energy to accelerate.