Wennington wildfire
| Wennington wildfire | |
|---|---|
Destroyed houses burning on the day of the fire | |
| Date(s) | 19 July 2022 13:00 – 21:47 (GMT) |
| Location | Wennington, London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°30′22″N 0°13′08″E / 51.5061°N 0.2189°E |
| Statistics | |
| Burned area | 20 ha (49 acres) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Evacuated | 90 families |
| Map | |
The Wennington wildfire was a wildfire that took place in Wennington, east London, on 19 July 2022 during the 2022 United Kingdom heatwave. No-one was killed, but the wildfire destroyed about 18–19 houses, including all the possessions of many residents. One resident said her house burned down "within two minutes".
The wildfire began when a compost heap spontaneously combusted. It took place on the hottest day since British records began, and has been described as an indication of the threat posed by global warming in the UK, a country in which wildfires have historically been rare and mostly seen on isolated grassland and moorland areas rather than in urban areas.