Southern Way Romford fire - Shed exploded as wildfires raged

The blaze broke out in the garden of a property on Southern Way on the evening of July 29, as firefighters were already tackling wildfires in the surrounding area.

Dylan Parry, a resident of the street, had just finished washing soot out of his hair from the neighbouring grass fires when he heard the noise.

He said: "There was a loud explosion, like deafeningly loud.

The fire destroyed two sheds, causing damage to a further shed and outbuilding (Image: Dylan Parry)

"Looked outside the window and there's 20, 25, 30 foot flames outside the window.

"It looked like it couldn't be contained this fire, it was ridiculously big. It just exploded and covered the whole garden."

Dylan recalls running outside in the aftermath of the explosion from the outbuilding, banging on his neighbour's door in an attempt to warn and help them.

He described his immediate reaction as "sheer panic", not knowing whether he would "be sick, going to cry, or pass out", yet managed to call 999 in amongst the chaos.

Dylan claims the firemen had to force their ways through gardens to get to the blaze (Image: Dylan Parry)

Another neighbour reportedly came out of her home screaming "It's mine, it's mine, it's my shed!".

The incident saw Dylan take his kitten to the vets before later going to the hospital himself after inhaling smoke.

He told this paper: "The smoke was too much, I was coughing all different colours up.

"My arms were black, everything were black. My hair was filled.

"Because of all the soot in the air my blood PH had gone very low.

"I was in so much pain, my stomach and chest were just cramping."

40 firefighters responded to the blaze (Image: Dylan Parry)

The first of around 40 firefighters arrived to the outbuilding blaze in just minutes, evacuating ten people from nearby properties.

London Fire Brigade's control room was called 29 times about the fire, which ultimately destroyed two sheds and damaged a further shed and outbuilding.

 The fire took just over an hour to extinguish.

Dylan said: "I caught up with neighbours – their gardens are tragic.

"Luckily everyone was fine.

He added: "The fire brigade were absolutely amazing, couldn't have asked them to do any better.

"Considering the circumstances, it was like they'd all just done an exam and knew exactly what to do.

"They were spot on with everything."