6 days ago
Worcestershire farmer says arson left his family too scared to leave farm
A Worcestershire farmer says his family is now scared to leave their home unattended after a fire, which police are treating as arson, caused £160,000 of blaze at Egghill Farm near Frankley in August 2024 destroyed two barns, two trailers and hundreds of bales of Charles says his family are now so nervous that it will happen again, that they haven't been on holiday together since. "We were insured for the physical costs, but it's the emotional impact that stays with you," he said.
Firefighters from Bromsgrove, Redditch, Wyre Forest, Evesham and Northfield spent more than 36 hours tackling the Mercia Police has charged a man with two counts of arson."We're just thankful that the cattle and sheep were out in the fields grazing so they weren't harmed," said farmer Rob Charles. "We've got CCTV and alarms, but we're scared to leave the farm in case it happens again." "My youngest son was terrified and didn't want to go to bed for a week after the fire."He was scared that the man might come back and set fire to the house.""It's not just a place of work, the farm is also our home, and we've not been away together as a family since it happened."
The number of agricultural fires in the UK is reducing but the financial costs have risen by more than a third. In 2023/4, according to figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, there were 409 fires on farms – 87 of which were started were also 4,419 outdoor fires, 40% of which were caused by NFU Mutual say the cost of farm fires increased by 37% to an estimated £110 million pounds in vehicle fires, which are recorded separately, have cost an additional £74 million in the last two years. Farmers have told the BBC that buildings and machinery can be replaced, but the emotional impact can't be and Alison Themans spent 20 years building up their Wenlock Edge Farm Shop business in Much Wenlock but the buildings were destroyed in just a few hours, leaving only their home next door. On May 26th, a fire caused by an electrical fault tore through the shop, butchery and charcuterie.
When Peter opened the front door after hearing banging, he was met with a thick wall of smoke. "I opened the door and I couldn't work out what was happening," said his reaction, Alison said she was worried that he was having a heart attack."We went to bed the night after the fire and I couldn't stop thinking about the scale of work ahead of us," she said."I asked Peter if he was certain he wanted to start again, but we both felt we were not ready to retire."Rebuilding the farm shop is due to start in August, and the couple hope to be supplying customers in time for Christmas."We've been overwhelmed by the kindness shown by our friends, neighbours and customers," said Peter. "We could have said that's it, but we didn't want to finish the business in such a sad way, we're determined to start again."
In June 2024, almost 200 people had to be evacuated from the caravan site at Hartington Hills Farm in the Peak District. A barn, holiday cottage and biomass boiler were destroyed in the blaze which was caused by an electrical fault. It's cost more than half a million pounds to rebuild the park, which is owned by mother and daughter Susan Green and Amy Dillon."We feel lucky that nobody was killed," said Susan, who had to move into temporary accommodation for five months. "A couple in their 80s were staying in the cottage and, if a camper hadn't raised the alarm, they could have been lost."I just ran out in my nightie, my bedroom was next door to the fire, so I could have died too."
"It hurts your heart."
Susan lost many personal possessions in the fire, and says she's still recovering emotionally."I've still got that grief there and it's not been let go of yet."The electricity, water and heating supplies were destroyed and the site was closed for ten months. "It's been traumatic but we chose to make it into an opportunity and invested some of our money to upgrade the site," said Amy. "It put us under a lot of pressure, we were keen to get on with it."We're not the sort of people who cry into their soup or moan, you've just got to crack on," says Susan.
