Thank you for sharing this, very interesting to see the wider picture. I live in Chignal St James and having seen footage over the last few weeks of other wildfires around the country it was a completely different experience to step out of our home and be surrounded by thick, acrid smoke. The sky was a strange colour and went very quickly from being clear blue to having an almost iridescent orange glow as the wind blew towards us. We could not see exactly where it was coming from or just how serious a situation we were in and relied heavily on footage like this on social media to help understand. I discovered how important our small rural community is and everyone got together to deal with what we needed to do and we packed bags ready to be evacuated and gathered pets. The farmers were exceptional dashing around in awful conditions and the village hall was opened for those who were evacuated. We checked in on neighbours who are elderly and more vulnerable. At the time it was quite scary as we are surrounded by fields. We are incredibly grateful to the emergency services and local farmers who battled to keep it away from peoples homes. One home in particular had a very lucky escape on Mashbury Road. Thankfully for us the fire was stopped about 800m away from our home with other neighbours being much nearer. I haven’t lived here that long however neighbours who have been here 30+ years say they only recall this happening once before some years ago. I am concerned that with issues around climate change this may now be a more regular occurrence. The heat we are feeling here is like a blast furnace has been opened which I have never experienced before in this country. It is so vital that younger generations learn more about this and help to combat a fast changing environment.
ps Essex Fire say cause was accidental, your video captures quick well the start point and how the wind ignited and fanned out, albeit like someone had emptied a bucket of sooty black water..
Thank you for sharing this, very interesting to see the wider picture. I live in Chignal St James and having seen footage over the last few weeks of other wildfires around the country it was a completely different experience to step out of our home and be surrounded by thick, acrid smoke. The sky was a strange colour and went very quickly from being clear blue to having an almost iridescent orange glow as the wind blew towards us. We could not see exactly where it was coming from or just how serious a situation we were in and relied heavily on footage like this on social media to help understand. I discovered how important our small rural community is and everyone got together to deal with what we needed to do and we packed bags ready to be evacuated and gathered pets. The farmers were exceptional dashing around in awful conditions and the village hall was opened for those who were evacuated. We checked in on neighbours who are elderly and more vulnerable. At the time it was quite scary as we are surrounded by fields. We are incredibly grateful to the emergency services and local farmers who battled to keep it away from peoples homes. One home in particular had a very lucky escape on Mashbury Road. Thankfully for us the fire was stopped about 800m away from our home with other neighbours being much nearer. I haven’t lived here that long however neighbours who have been here 30+ years say they only recall this happening once before some years ago. I am concerned that with issues around climate change this may now be a more regular occurrence. The heat we are feeling here is like a blast furnace has been opened which I have never experienced before in this country. It is so vital that younger generations learn more about this and help to combat a fast changing environment.
Thanks for this detailed reflection, a fascinating insight. Much appreciated.
ps Essex Fire say cause was accidental, your video captures quick well the start point and how the wind ignited and fanned out, albeit like someone had emptied a bucket of sooty black water..
Great video
Thanks!
I was just driving on the motor way the other day and saw smoke and lots of flashing lights I hope that everyone is doing ok after this.