THESE aerial photos show the dramatic scale of a devastating field fire which investigators now believe was started deliberately.
The inferno tore across a cornfield in Powick and threatened to engulf homes in Old Malvern Road, seven of which had to be evacuated.
These aerial photos show not only the scale of the 'deliberate' Powick field fire but how close the flames came to people's homes.
We reported how the fire ripped across the field on Thursday, August 17 as people fled their homes to escape the blaze and a taxi driver and off-duty paramedic rushed to alert people to the danger as firefighters brought the flames under control.
A spokesperson for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said today the officer investigating the fire has confirmed it was 'started deliberately'.
Jonathan Edmondson, who lives in a semi-detached house next to the field, was one of those forced to flee with his family, describing how the Powick field fire moved fast - the blaze came just 4ft from his house.
READ MORE: Powick fire: "Flames came just 4ft from my house"
READ MORE: Powick homes evacuated as fire spreads through corn field
"We were fast asleep and did not know anything was going on. This fire moved fast. We were lucky," he said, praising the hard work of firefighters.
Four crews attended after a 999 call at 11.46pm – three from Worcester and one from Malvern plus the water carrier from Evesham, off-road vehicles from Wyre Forest and Malvern and the service drone and incident command unit from Ledbury.
Seven homes and 11 residents had to be evacuated as the fire ripped through 4.3 hectares of standing crop as firefighters used two extended hosereels with beaters to protect nearby properties.
The 57-year-old left his home with his wife, 22-year-old son and their dog and cat, their passports and mobile phones.
He was asleep in bed when he heard knocking outside as neighbours roused each other, warning villagers of the danger as Mr Edmondson and his wife praised the spirit of community in Powick.
"My son came running and said 'there's a fire - we have got to go'.
"I rang the fire brigade but it had already been logged," he said.
Mr Edmondson said an off-duty paramedic who saw the fire raised the alarm and also knocked on people's doors with a resident.
He said the fire crackling through the corn sounded like water or rainfall, describing the flames as 'the height of the garage'.
The field was left largely charred and scorched where the fire rampaged towards homes.
Mr Edmondson added: "The fire looked like it was literally up against the fence. My wife thought we were going to lose the house. It got quite close.
"I'm relieved - I was thinking of all the wildfires in Greece. It looked like the fire was moving from left to right across the field. It was moving really fast. I was quite scared - we have lived here 20 years and we have never had anything like that happen.
"The fire service was really good and reassured people."
In particular, he said the fire service checked very thoroughly for embers to make sure there were no further fires.
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