Maybe someone was trying to cook a giant sausage and things got out of hand. Or a local wizard’s spell backfired. More likely, it was a perfect storm of stupidity: a can of lighter fluid, a bored teenager, and a dare that went “watch this.”
Fire crews say these fires happen shockingly often. In 2026 alone, South Yorkshire saw multiple arch fires, one so big it made the local news for a whole 47 seconds.
The heroes of this story: the firefighters
Imagine being a firefighter in South Yorkshire. You train for arson, chemical spills, and heroic rescues. Instead, you get “the arch is on fire again, Dave.” They probably have a bingo card for arch fires at this point.
Stop summer fires | South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
One firefighter told the BBC (I’m paraphrasing) that they’d rather fight a raging volcano than another mattress fire. “At least a volcano is honest,” they joked.
