People who fled Stourbridge fires start to return home

People who had to flee their houses during the devastating Stourbridge fires are starting to return home, as a firefighter said it was "a miracle no one has died".

Many families are only just discovering the extent of damage to their homes as West Midlands Fire Service allowed some behind the cordon after three days.

Nineteen properties across five streets have been fully destroyed. Eight households have been able to view the shells of their former homes.

Aerial images of the scene appear to show some houses have remained entirely intact while those next to them have been burnt to the ground.

Residents of Brunswick Gate, Landsgate, Ounty John Lane, Quarry Park Road and Racecourse Lane were asked to gather to speak to fire chiefs one by one.

They then learned if it was safe to return or if their home needed significant repairs or had been lost entirely.

Earlier, Dudley Council's chief executive Balvinder Heran said 96 evacuated houses had escaped damage with 85 families able to return.

Thirteen households whose properties were damaged by fire have also been able to go back home.

A firefighter who wished to remain anonymous told the BBC he had "never prayed for rain so much".

"All I can say is in 23 years I've never seen anything like it," he said.

The blaze in Stourbridge was one of several that broke out across England and Wales on Thursday, the hottest day of the year so far. Many fires were in the West Midlands.

Pritpal Boyal said his in-laws discovered their house on Brunswick Gate was unscathed.

"It was a miracle because a lot of the houses opposite had all gone," he said.

"It's quite soul-destroying because you've grown up with these people, there's a lot of elderly there as well.