Angela Rayner visits homes struck by Stourbridge wildfire

The Housing Secretary could be seen walking among the shells of houses at Quarry Park Road, Stourbridge, following the huge blaze which destroyed 19 homes.During a visit to the West Midlands, the Housing Secretary said the devastation from wildfires was “absolutely horrendous” and praised the local community.“The community have been exceptional, looking out for each other,” she said.“The emergency services, the police, the fire, the ambulance service, the local authority, the local MP, Cat (Eccles) here, and the community have come together to really support each other.Housing Secretary Angela Rayner views the burnt-out remains of houses on Quarry Park Road in Stourbridge, West Midlands (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire“But it is devastating to see the level of damage and the emotional turmoil of losing everything, and that’s what these families have gone through.”She added: “We’re seeing a pattern here with the wildfires. We’re seeing a pattern with climate.“We have introduced £100 million more equipment and we’ve got specialist fire crews now that look at wildfires, and they have been pushed by what’s happened.”She continued: “What we are doing is we’ll be making sure that we come together and we design a fire service that is able to respond to the challenges that we face. But it’s clear that these challenges are becoming more frequent.”Residents evacuated from their homes in the area have been allowed to return to view their properties, an update from Dudley Borough Council released on Sunday said.Some 13 households whose properties were partially damaged in the blaze have been able to return, chief executive Balvinder Heran said in a residents’ briefing.The Stourbridge fire is among a host of blazes which have ripped across Britain over the last week.Other fires have raged across South Wales, in the New Forest, and in the Cairngorms in Scotland.On Friday evening, millions of people in England and Wales received an alert on their mobile devices warning them of a “very high risk of wildfires nationally”.Several fire services have since uploaded statements asking members of the public to only call 999 to report a genuine emergency.Read MoreTemperatures are set to cool, and rain is set to fall in some areas in coming days, but extreme heat is expected to return after that.