South Yorkshire Fire Service warns wildfire risk is still high after heatwave disaster

• Report by Katie Oscroft

More than a month on from the "devastating" wildfires which destroyed homes across South Yorkshire, the region's fire service says the risk of similar fires remains high.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue received more than 2,000 calls on July 19, the hottest day on record, and every available firefighter was called in to help.

The aftermath of the fires has prompted the service to prepare for a future where fires on this scale could become more regular.

Assistant Chief Officer Andy Strelczenie told ITV News: "In my time of 26 years in the fire service I’ve never experienced a day quite like that.

"Our resources were stretched like I’d never seen before."

The fires, which overwhelmed parts of the entire country, were both accidentally and sometimes deliberately started as the public struggled to cope with such hot and dry conditions.

Adam Woods, a South Yorkshire firefighter, said: "We just couldn't be everywhere at once.

"It was tackling one fire at a time, they were coming through faster than we could put them out.

"They were just grassfires but the size of them was immense. We were turning up expecting a small fire and it wasn’t - it was a full field."

The service are warning that the risk level of large grassfires remains high even though the heatwave is over.