“It spread so quickly, from the woodland to the fence panels, then a shed was fully alight, then the guttering”

A deliberate grass fire started by youths spread and destroyed a Sheffield family home.

A row of homes on Harthill Road, Woodthorpe, suffered fire damage with visible holes left in the roofs following the blaze on Wednesday afternoon (August 5).

A grass fire was reportedly started by youths on Woodthorpe Ravine before it spread to a home on Harthill Road on August 5, 2026. An arson investigation was launched. | Frazer Fairbank

placeholder image — A grass fire was reportedly started by youths on Woodthorpe Ravine before it spread to a home on Harthill Road on August 5, 2026. An arson investigation was launched. | Frazer Fairbank

It was reportedly started by teenagers setting fires on nearby Woodthorpe Ravine. The flames leapt from the dry, straw-like grass to a hedge, then engulfed a shed before spreading up guttering.

A Woodthorpe house went up in flames in an arson attack | South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

The owner of one of the three homes affected, Matthew Perry, 32, told The Star: “It was terrible. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened around here.

“I was home alone about to make some tea when neighbours started shouting ‘fire.’

“I went to the back garden to look for my hose.

“It spread so quickly, from the woodland to the fence panels, then a shed was fully alight, then the guttering. That’s when I got out.”

Neighbour Matthew Perry, 32, described how the fire rapidly spread from the woodland behind Harthill Road to the row of houses. | Iconic Media Group

Matthew said his French doors and several rear windows were destroyed and his house now smells of smoke.

His neighbour’s home and garden were gutted.

Smoke engulfed the house and flames burst through the roof.

“Some kids ran down the nearby ginnel afterwards,” said Matthew.

“Knowing it’s deliberate makes it worse. It wasn’t just preventable, it wasn’t accidental - it was some kids setting stuff on fire for fun.”

South Yorkshire Police are investigating the blaze as arson started by “a small group of youths”.

“They won’t get away with it,” one homeowner said. “There’s doorbell cameras everywhere on this street.”

This image shows where the grass first scorched the grass on Woodthorpe Ravine then spread to a hedge. | S70 Media

Another woman said how her children were “traumatised”.

“I took my 11-year-old to see it so he knows never to play with fire,” said the mum.

“When it first started, it got so dark out I thought it was rain coming, but it was smoke.”

A police probe has been launched into the blaze | South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

On Woodthorpe Ravine, the grass, trees and hedges behind the homes are scorched black.

Just metres away, a second patch of the dried-out park is also blackened and torched - because of a deliberate fire in the area on Friday, July 31.

Just metres from the scene of Wednesday's fire are the scorched remains of a SECOND grass fire that was set on Friday, July 31. Neighbours believe the same group of teenagers started both of them. | S70 Media

Neighbours believe the same teenagers started both fires - this time with disastrous consequences.

Firefighters were deployed to Woodthorpe after grassland was set alight and the flames spread to a nearby house | South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

Ward councillor for Richmond, Jack Byron [Reform], told The Star he feels ‘rewilding’ efforts - where grass is allowed to grow long for the benefit of wildlife - may have contributed to the blaze.

He is calling for an urgent meeting of the city council as well as contractors Amey and South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to discuss grass cutting.

Emergency services were deployed to Woodthorpe after an arson attack | South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

Councillor Byron said: “I think the length of the grass is a serious risk and needs to be addressed in Richmond and across Sheffield. It would not have spread so quickly if it was mown.

“I think it’s shameful and a sad state of affairs for people to deliberately set fires.

“We have a duty to make things as safe as possible, and if that means getting round a table to talk about mowing grass, then let’s do that.”