Families left homeless after £6 disposable BBQ sets eight homes on fire during excruciating heatwave

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 09:44, 25 June 2026 | Updated: 09:50, 25 June 2026 Eight families have been left homeless after a £6 disposable BBQ set their homes on fire during the blistering heatwave.   The blaze ripped through the row of terraced houses in Basildon, Essex, on June 21, leaving the properties 'completely uninhabitable.' Fire and rescue crews from seven stations battled to control the fire as it spread across the rooftops. One family said they had 'lost everything' in the fire and are now living in 'limbo' after they were allowed to briefly return home to collect their belongings. Paryss Reynolds, 25, said her mother, Cara, had cooked a burger on the disposable BBQ and a tree went up in flames. She said: 'My mum was at home on her own, she'd cooked a burger on a disposable barbecue which we've done dozens of times and she'd gone inside to eat it. 'After a minute she heard a massive roar and ran outside and a tree near our fence was completely alight, she ran inside to get a bucket of water to throw on it and when she got back out it had spread to the roof, it was just completely ablaze.' But the terraced roofs meant the flames spread quickly throughout the eight properties leaving all eight homes 'completely uninhabitable,' Ms Reynolds said. The rooftops of eight family homes in Basildon, Essex,were destroyed by a fire on Sunday June 21 The fire was caused by a disposable BBQ which set a tree alight and quickly spread to to the roofs Fire and rescue crews from seven stations battled the blaze as it ripped through the row of terraced houses 'I can't believe my home is gone but it's not just us, these are all family homes and everybody has been made homeless. 'My mum can't get the sound of sirens out of her ears, she is in so much shock and heartbroken, she feels so guilty for everyone.' She added: 'It's just devastating, we have lost everything.' Neighbour, Mike Campbell, who lives over the road, said he was 'lucky' his property didn't suffer the same fate. The 37-year-old said: 'We noticed the smoke and the fire engines weren't far behind. It looks like the bitumen from the old flat roof went up - it was scary. 'We back onto that row of houses but apart from a bit of ash and mess, we didn't have any damage.  'I don't know what they're going to do if they're uninhabitable because they're prefab. It's a shame.  'Everyone's quite shocked because all the houses are built the same. You do think, what if it had been ours?' Mike Campbell, 37, who lives over the road form the terraced houses, said he was 'lucky' his house didn't go up in flames An aerial shot of the properties' rooftops that were ravaged by the fire and left the homes 'completely uninhabitable' Fundraisers have since been launched for Paryss' family and other residents whose homes were destroyed in the fire - including a GoFundMe set up by Basildon Council. Paryss, her mother and brother have been put up in a hotel by the council but they are now seeking alternative accommodation as they await being told when they can return home. 'We were allowed to go back to collect some things and the damage is awful, the roof is bowing in and like it could collapse,' she said. 'The council have put us up in a hotel room, but as a family of three with pets we need to find somewhere else. 'When I went back yesterday I managed to find our cat but she was so scared she ran away and I wasn't able to get hold of her. 'The whole thing has been absolutely devastating, the support people have shown the fundraiser has brought me to tears.' The blaze in Essex came as a scorching heatwave gripped Britain with record-breaking temperatures and rare red weather warnings issued. Britain could again record its hottest June day ever - just one day after a new record of 36.1C was set in Hampshire, surpassing the previous high of 35.6C in 1976. The Met Office said highs of up to 40C are possible this afternoon, meaning the UK could also close in on the all-time temperature record of 40.3C set in Coningsby, Lincolnshire, in July 2022. Nearly 500 schools are set to close early as the heat dome worked its way across Europe to the UK. Extreme heat is also expected to cause travel disruption tomorrow with temperatures increasing the likelihood of rails buckling and overhead lines dropping. 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