Bournemouth beach fire started by kettle boiled to treat weever fish sting

The fire erupted after Fiona Tew, 36, boiled a kettle on the hob of her cabin to treat her young nephew's suspected weever fish sting.

She had gone to get cold water from another tap and was walking back when he said 'aunt Fiona, I think the beach hut is on fire'.

Within moments the 8ft by 6ft hut on the promenade at Bournemouth beach, near Durley Chine, was fully alight and a loud 'popping' noise was heard from inside.

The flames spread to two huts to the right of it, completely destroying one, as well as the grassy cliff behind it.

Picture by Stephen Bath

• As it happened: Huge fire breaks out on Bournemouth cliff with people urged to "stay away"

Due to the gorse being tinder-dry and a strong southerly breeze fanning the flames, a huge 100ft long strip of the sloping cliff was set alight.

Picture by @dorsetfudge

More than 40 firefighters raced to the scene at 3.50pm on Monday and put out the fire in the beach huts while tackling the inferno on the cliff which was billowing black smoke.

Picture by Stephen Bath

They were eventually able to get it under control using water cannons and a cherry picker at 7pm.

The fire destroyed a 100sq metres area of land, leaving the huts as charred remains.

Fiona and her husband Gavin Tew, 42, a personal trainer, were on a council waiting list for six years before acquiring the beach hut almost a decade ago.

Picture: Corin Messer/BNPS 

Fiona said: "Our nephew was with his friends and came over saying he'd been stung by a weaver fish and asking if he could get some hot water from our beach hut.

"I filled up the kettle, put it on the hob and told him to wait while I went to get some cold water from one of the taps.

"I was walking back and all of a sudden he was in front of me saying 'Auntie Fiona, I think the beach hut is on fire'.

"With that I looked up and saw the smoke and ran back as fast as I could.

"We tried to get as much stuff as we could out of there but we didn't have enough time to get anything."

Picture: Corin Messer/BNPS

She added: "It was just horrible. The kids were really upset, this is our favourite place to be and I'm just so glad nobody was hurt.

"The stuff can be replaced but there's things that had a sentimental value to them.

"We've had this beach hut for about eight years and it's like a little community so everyone was looking out for the kids.

"It was horrible for the kids who just had to stand there and watch.

"I've never seen anything like it - it just went up in seconds.

"The cliff face will take years to grow back and will be a constant reminder of what happened."

Picture by Stephen Bath

When the fire erupted, Gavin was away playing golf.

When his wife rang him he raced to the scene, where he also found his two children Teddy, four, and Ruby, who is just 21-months-old.

The couple did not have insurance and are now facing a £2,000 bill to replace their hut.

They are also hoping to set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise £6,000 to replace the damaged huts next door to their own.

Gavin said: "Anita, who owns the hut two down, had her late husband's watch in hers so she was really upset and crying.

"Thankfully Fiona found it and was able to give it back to her.

"She rang me and said there was a fire and I just told her to put it out.

"When I saw the video footage on social media I realised that she couldn't just put it out.

"I use the hut for work so for the time being I'll have to train people away from the beach.

"We just really hope that the other people's huts have got insurance because we didn't.

"What we'd love to be able to do is set up a crowdfunding page to raise £6,000 and be able to give our neighbours their huts back."

No injuries have been reported and a fire investigation has confirmed no foul play was involved.

Dorset and Wiltshire Rescue fire officer Andy Cole said: "The fire started in one of the beach huts accidentally.

"It spread to another beach hut and because the cliff face is so close to the beach huts went up the hill.

"The first fire engine on the scene saw it had spread and requested assistance and there were eight fire engines in total.

"It is challenging to tackle these types of fires and an area of 100sq metres was destroyed. There were no injuries."

Police evacuated a section of the beach and put in a cordon to protect the thousands of beachgoers from the blaze.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "We were called at 3.53pm yesterday to reports of a beach hut fire near to the West Cliff lift on Bournemouth's West Cliff.

"The fire spread to nearby beach huts and moved up the cliff.

"A cordon was put in place for the safety of members of the public and officers attended the scene to assist with the closures."