Mum-of two tells how she started Bournemouth beach fire after boiling kettle in hut to treat nephew’s fish s

A HUGE fire which caused Bournemouth beach to be evacuated started after a mum boiled a kettle to treat a suspected weever fish sting.

Fiona Tew, 36, was at her beach hut with her sister-in-law Lainey Norman, 39, and their five children when her nephew rushed in saying he had been stung by a fish. 

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The mum-of-two put the kettle on using their gas stove and left Jamie, 14, in the beach hut to get some more water to pour over her nephew's skin. 

But as she returned Fiona saw huge clouds of smoke coming from the 8ft by 6ft wooden cabin and Jamie outside shouting "the hut is on fire". 

Panicked sunseekers were evacuated from the beach after the huge blaze engulfed a heath-covered cliff face as hundreds of stunned sunbathers were told to leave the shoreline.

An off-duty fireman saw the smoke and rushed over to help and a neighbouring beach hut owner rushed to get his fire extinguisher. 

But by the time he had arrived to put out the fire, the wooden cabin was ablaze and the fire had begun to spread to the gorse on the cliff-face above.

A team of 40 firefighters then battled to control the flames which burnt down three beach huts on the promenade and covered 100 square metres of cliff face.

Huge plumes of black smoke billowed across the beach as horrified beach-goers watched on as firefighters climbed up the cliff with hoses.

Lainey and the other children, aged from two to six, were playing on the beach when the fire took hold.  

Fiona and her husband Gavin, of Bournemouth, Dorset, have owned the beach hut for five years. 

Fiona put the kettle on and went off to get some more water and on the way back she saw huge plumes of smoke coming from the hut.

Jamie's gran

Huts on the seafront in Bournemouth can cost as much as £100,000.

Gavin, a fitness instructor, calls the hut his "happy" place and often runs exercise classes on Bournemouth beach. 

Fiona said: "Our nephew was with his friends and came over saying he'd been stung by a weaver fish and asking if he could get some hot water from our beach hut.

"I filled up the kettle, put it on the hob and told him to wait while I went to get some cold water from one of the taps.

"I was walking back and all of a sudden he was in front of me saying 'Auntie Fiona, I think the beach hut is on fire'.

"With that I looked up and saw the smoke and ran back as fast as I could.

"We tried to get as much stuff as we could out of there but we didn't have enough time to get anything."

She added: "It was just horrible. The kids were really upset, this is our favourite place to be and I'm just so glad nobody was hurt.

"The stuff can be replaced but there's things that had a sentimental value to them.

It was just horrible. The kids were really upset, this is our favourite place to be and I'm just so glad nobody was hurt.

Fiona Tew

"We've had this beach hut for about eight years and it's like a little community so everyone was looking out for the kids.

"It was horrible for the kids who just had to stand there and watch.

"I've never seen anything like it - it just went up in seconds.

"The cliff face will take years to grow back and will be a constant reminder of what happened."

Jamie's gran Marilyn Tew, 74, told The Sun: "Fiona and Lainey were at the beach hut for the day with the five children when Jamie suddenly got stung by a weever fish. 

"Fiona put the kettle on and went off to get some more water and on the way back she saw huge plumes of smoke coming from the hut. 

"Jamie was shouting, the beach hut is on fire. 

"Nobody quite knows exactly how it happened, it's a little bit of a mystery. 

"Jamie was in shock, he didn't know what to do. 

"The family have lost everything, their bank cards and their car keys and everything was melted. 

"It's just so awful, the fire went up so quickly. They just feel awful about what happened.

"Another beach hut owner rushed to get his fire extinguisher but by the time he had got back it was far too late, the fire had spread onto the cliff and had begun burning down other huts nearby."

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The couple did not have insurance and are now facing a £2,000 bill to replace their hut.

They are also hoping to set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise £6,000 to replace the damaged huts next door to their own.

Gavin said: "Anita, who owns the hut two down, had her late husband's watch in hers so she was really upset and crying.

"Thankfully Fiona found it and was able to give it back to her.

"She rang me and said there was a fire and I just told her to put it out.

"When I saw the video footage on social media I realised that she couldn't just put it out.

"I use the hut for work so for the time being I'll have to train people away from the beach.

"We just really hope that the other people's huts have got insurance because we didn't.

"What we'd love to be able to do is set up a crowdfunding page to raise £6,000 and be able to give our neighbours their huts back."

South Western Ambulance Service said there were no reports of any injuries.

The fire was put out by about 5.30pm.

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It comes just weeks after thousands of Brits ignored pleas to stay away by travelling to Bournemouth beach during the heatwave.

Bournemouth council declared a major incident after emergency services were "completely overstretched" when huge numbers of visitors crowded on to the beach.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock warned that beaches could be closed if people continued to flout social distancing rules.

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