Perivale Park fire: 3 hectares lost, barbecues banned in parks

Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters were sent to Perivale Park in Greenford at 12.10pm on Wednesday 12 August, where roughly three hectares of grass and shrubland were destroyed, London Fire Brigade’s incident log records. It was the third outdoor fire in the borough in four days on the Brigade’s own record, and it came two days after Ealing Council had told residents that barbecues are prohibited in its parks and put a temporary ban on barbecues and bonfires across council allotments.

Three hectares is about four full-size football pitches. Crews used backpack blowers, which the Brigade describes as working “just like leaf blowers” to push flames back into already burnt ground, and rubber wildfire beaters. The log gives no cause and records no injuries.

Four days, three fires

All three entries below are from London Fire Brigade’s published incident log for the borough of Ealing.

• Sunday 9 August, 12.59pm, Southall. Four engines and around 25 firefighters attended a fire that spread across the gardens of seven properties on Dormer’s Wells Lane, Kenton Avenue and Burns Avenue. Two gardens on Dormer’s Wells Lane lost a fence, a shed and foliage and a nearby footpath was damaged; three gardens on Kenton Avenue were damaged, one shed destroyed and one house’s external facade damaged; on Burns Avenue a garage was damaged and a greenhouse and shed destroyed. Crews from Heathrow, Acton and Heston had it under control by 3.17pm. The cause is not yet known.
• Sunday 9 August, 6.26pm, Greenford. Six engines and around 40 firefighters tackled a grass fire near Cowgate Road: around an acre of trees, shrubbery and grass damaged, no injuries. The Brigade took 11 calls, sent crews from Wembley, Southall and Northolt plus one of its Terrain Support Vehicles, and had the fire out by 7.48pm.
• Wednesday 12 August, 12.10pm, Perivale Park. Six engines, around 40 firefighters, approximately three hectares burnt.

The council’s warning of Monday 10 August, issued between the Sunday fires and the Perivale Park blaze, said fires had already had to be put out at Perivale Park, Horsenden Hill and Gunnersbury Park. Councillor Lauren Wall, cabinet member for thriving communities, is quoted in it: “We’ve all seen on the news how devastating a wildfire can be and we are fortunate that the recent fires in our parks were not worse.”

What the council has banned, and what it asks

The 10 August notice sets out four rules for parks and a temporary ban on allotments:

1. No barbecues in parks. The Brigade’s own advice goes further on disposable barbecues: they “can retain heat for many hours” after they look out, so do not take one to a park at all.
2. No glass bottles left behind. Sunlight through glass can start a fire in dry grass.
3. If the bin is full, take your rubbish home.
4. Cigarettes go out properly, in a bin or a portable ashtray, never on the ground.

On council allotments, barbecues and bonfires are banned for now.

Two days later the council leader, Councillor Peter Mason, used his weekly note to add a third ask alongside litter and fire: water the young trees near your home, work or street, which need it in hot dry weather, and sponsor one through the council’s Trees for Streets partnership if you can. “Climate resilience isn’t something the council can deliver alone,” he wrote.

The Brigade’s spokesperson, quoted on the Perivale Park entry, framed it as a London-wide problem: “Once again we have a heatwave in London … Wildfires in particular can spread rapidly, require significant resources and have devastating consequences for people, properties, wildlife and the environment.” Its advice for gardens is that a barbecue at home should never be used on a balcony and should sit well away from fences, sheds and decking.

What it means for you

• Perivale Park. The Brigade log does not say which part of the park burnt, and we could find no closure notice on the council’s site; if you have a fixture on the pitches or the athletics track, check with the organiser.
• The barbecue rule covers council parks generally, not just the three that have burnt. The allotment ban is described as temporary with no end date, so assume it holds until the council says otherwise.
• Allotment holders: no bonfires either, however tidy the plot, until the council lifts the temporary ban.
• If you see smoke in a park, call 999 and give the nearest gate or road name; the Brigade took 11 separate calls for the Cowgate Road fire alone.
• The Southall garden fire has no published cause yet. The Brigade’s entry says the cause is not yet known; we will report it if that changes.
• Read the rest of the borough’s news on our Ealing news page, and the week’s road closures on the Ealing roadworks and travel page.

Corrections and additions to hello@ealingpost.co.uk.