Former London firefighter says fatal raging inferno in Greece could happen here

The warning came after flames fanned by strong winds devastated the seaside village of Mati, devouring homes and cars.

Stephen Chadbon, who runs Fire Safety Assessments and has 25 years' experience as a firefighter, said homes in Britain were at risk of being destroyed by fires caused by people accidentally dropping cigarettes or glass bottles as well as "copycat" arsonists.

The tragedy in the island wildfires in the Attica region around Athens, is thought to be started by arsonists looking to loot evacuated homes during hot, dry and windy weather that increases the risk of wildfires.

Mr Chadbon, 46, of Norwich, said: "It's terrible, it looks awful and as though people were stranded in a restaurant, cut off and the issue is the smoke.

"It is poisonous and it's the smoke you need to get away from and it looks as if people were being cut off because of the fire.

"If there's any fires around you you need to make sure you get away from them and not stay, and call the Fire Brigade because they can spread very quickly."

He said the hot, dry weather in Britain meant that a similar wildfire could happen here.

Mr Chadbon, who has worked as a firefighter in London, Norfolk and Switerland, said: "It's the same situation - we have large areas of heathland and gorse land and forests and we have people visiting these areas because a lot of them are in nice rural spots.

"It's so hot here at the moment and it's just a prolonged dry spell that has dried everything out so all it takes is a spark or a small flame just to set something alight and things like the fire in Greece will just spread rapidly.

"It definitely could happen today in Britain."

He said coverage of the fire in Greece increases the risk of "copycat" arsonists starting wildfires in Britain.

He said: "Arson is antisocial behaviour and it's one of those things that studies have shown that if people see there's a fire there tend to be more because other disengaged youths think it's a good idea to cause another fire. It's copycat crime that can happen."

Mr Chadbon added: "If you have a field of corn at the bottom of your garden it might be a good idea to have a hosepipe laid down and preventatively give the bottom of your garden a dampen in the evening to make sure it's wet and stop any fires from starting."

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said it had already attended six times as many large grass fires than the total number attended in 2017.

Deputy Commissioner and Director of Operations, Tom George, said: "We're fed up of politely asking people to take care.

"We're now asking people to stop putting lives at risk by carelessly chucking cigarettes or matches down on dry grass.

"There hasn't been any rain for several weeks and I've never seen London looking so parched. All it takes is one act of stupidity and the whole lot can go up in minutes.

"If you drop a cigarette down on dry grass or leave your barbecue unattended you could single-handedly be responsible for starting a massive fire and that is not something you want on your conscience."