A fire that broke out in Sandyford Park on 13 August 2026 spread through gardens on Sandy Road and Maureen Avenue in Stoke-on-Trent, destroying four homes and forcing dozens of residents to evacuate. Two people, a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, both from Stoke-on-Trent, were arrested on suspicion of arson and have since been released on bail, according to Staffordshire Police. An official cause has not yet been confirmed, and one firefighter remains in hospital.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that six firefighters were initially taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, though five have since been discharged, with one still receiving treatment as of 18 August, according to a national broadcaster's report.
How badly were homes affected?
Beyond the four properties destroyed, a further 13 homes sustained fire damage, including structural harm, and damage to roofs and windows, according to a national broadcaster's live coverage. Residents from numbers 10 to 36 on Maureen Avenue and 30 to 42 on Sandy Road were directed to attend Goldenhill Community Centre for immediate support, according to regional broadcast coverage. The community support hub was later relocated from the community centre to Golden Hill Working Men's Club, according to local news coverage.
What has the council said about its response?
Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, acknowledged shortcomings in how the authority communicated with residents and volunteers in the aftermath of the fire. Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke, she said:
Some of it has been very good and some of it could have been better.
Ashworth accepted that volunteers, including those at Golden Hill Working Men's Club, had been working extremely hard to support affected families. Asked what the council could have done differently, she said:
they didn't get the proper contact which respected the role they were taking.
The council made a mistake in not supporting the community centre and club properly.
She maintained that the council had responded promptly in other respects, pointing to the rapid placement of residents into accommodation on the night of the fire, coordination with the fire service, and the deployment of building control, street cleaning and security resources.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council said on 19 August that it continued to support affected residents and was overseeing ongoing recovery work at the site, according to the council's own statement.
How did volunteers and residents respond?
Jake Burgess, secretary of Golden Hill Working Men's Club, said the club had opened its doors to help those displaced by the fire but felt largely unsupported by the local authority.
The support from the council has been pretty much non-existent.
The club received a large volume of donations for affected families but was forced to stop accepting them because of the scale of the response. Describing how the night unfolded, Burgess said:
It's gone from a little bit of smoke in the air to families being in the club... breaking down in tears.
What can you say to these people? It's so hard when they're sat there going 'my animals, my belongings'. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster.
Paul Reeves, whose family home was built by his father, had to flee as flames approached the property, though the house itself largely escaped damage. His back garden and garage were destroyed, and a headstone marking the spot where his father's ashes are buried was charred but mostly survived.
It was frightening. I was terrified.
Asked how he felt seeing the extent of the damage, he said:
I'm glad because it's not as bad as next door. I'm just grateful for the fire brigade.
Reeves said he watched events unfold from the top of Sandy Road on the day of the fire, adding that those around him were in tears.
Chris Murchison, who lives on Maureen Avenue, was in nearby Kidsgrove when he learned of the fire and could see smoke as he made his way home.
I've never seen anything like it, neighbours were just distressed.
He said his house itself was undamaged, but his shed and garden were completely destroyed.
You're thankful that your house is OK, but it's just a bit of a shock really.
Why has there been concern about disposable barbecues?
The blaze adds to a run of serious wildfires across the country this summer that fire services believe were often started accidentally by discarded cigarettes or disposable barbecues in dry grass, according to local reporting. The government had already ordered retailers to stop selling disposable barbecues because of the wildfire risk, according to a national broadcaster's report. Separately, Andy Burnham ordered a temporary UK-wide ban on disposable barbecue sales and deployed military support to help tackle wildfires, describing Britain as a \"tinderbox\" during the summer's prolonged heatwave. That decision followed days of consideration, after Burnham had signalled a ban was under review as drought conditions drove a record surge in wildfires nationally, with major supermarkets already having halted sales voluntarily. Elsewhere, residents in Stourbridge described similarly harrowing scenes after wildfires destroyed 19 homes and damaged 18 more amid the same record heat, with officials still monitoring hotspots there as of 14 August 2026. Fire service personnel had urged people to avoid the Sandyford area and keep windows and doors closed as the blaze developed, according to live coverage from the time.
What happens next?
Stoke-on-Trent City Council said recovery work was continuing at the site as of 19 August, though no formal timetable for further decisions or hearings has yet been announced, according to the council's statement. The investigation into the cause of the fire remains ongoing, with the two people arrested on suspicion of arson still on bail.
Key Facts
- The fire began in Sandyford Park on 13 August 2026 and spread to Sandy Road and Maureen Avenue, destroying four homes.
- A total of 13 additional properties suffered fire damage, including structural, roof and window damage.
- Two people, aged 23 and 24 and both from Stoke-on-Trent, were arrested on suspicion of arson and later bailed.
- Six firefighters were hospitalised with smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion; five have since been discharged, one remains in hospital.
- The fire followed a summer of wildfires linked to disposable barbecues, prompting a temporary national sales ban.
