00:00One spark can be enough to set parched grassland alight.
00:05At Barbeacon near Great Bar, flames tore through the nature reserve on Sunday 2 August,
00:11sending thick smoke across nearby communities and burning through part of the surrounding landscape.
00:18Westmanland's fire service sent eight crews after being called at around quarter past three.
00:23Beacon Road was closed between Beacon Hill and Bridle Lane.
00:27Residents were told to keep windows and doors shut, avoid the area and allow teams to work.
00:33The Barbeacon blaze was one of three large grass fires handled around Birmingham that day,
00:38alongside incidents at Kingfisher Park in Hay Mills and off Perry Avenue.
00:44The cause at Barbeacon remains under investigation, with no explanation yet confirmed publicly.
00:51The wider danger is being increased by drought.
00:54The Environment Agency has placed the West Midlands in drought status after exceptionally hot dry weather.
01:01Seven Trent Water has not introduced a hosepipe ban in its region, but they are asking customers to preserve supplies.
01:09Fire chiefs say disposable barbecues should not be used in parks, on moorland or in open countryside.
01:16Cigarettes, matches and glass must never be discarded.
01:20Anyone seeing flames should move away and call 999,
01:25while deliberate fire setting should be reported straight away to the police.
01:29So please feel safe, please.
01:29People
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