"We Had No Chance”: Ver Meadows Fire Report Exposes Emergency Infrastructure Failures on Traveller Site
An independent report into the Ver Meadows fire, published yesterday (30/07/2025), has exposed critical infrastructure failures at the Hertfordshire County Council-run Traveller site — including the absence of a functioning fire hydrant that fire crews could use and inadequate access for emergency vehicles.
The fire, which broke out on 12 July 2025, destroyed homes across multiple plots and left families — including young children — traumatised and homeless.
Commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), the report by forensic investigators Dr J H Burgoyne & Partners LLP states that fire crews were forced to withdraw from the scene due to a lack of water, which, residents of Ver Meadows say, significantly delayed the emergency response as the blaze ripped through the site.
No “Functioning” Hydrant, No Backup Plan
Despite the site being occupied and active, there was no functioning fire hydrant accessible when crews arrived. A water bowser had to be dispatched — costing precious time — by which time the fire had already spread uncontrollably, add the residents.
The independent fire report, which gathered up to testimonies of fire crew at the scene, states:
“There were issues with the water supply, because there was no functioning fire hydrant on site, and at one stage fire fighters withdrew until the water supply could be restored. A water bowser was deployed as part of the response.”
Local community investigations have since identified a partially buried hydrant on site, which was apparently inaccessible to fire crews because, the fire report states: “it appears to have been largely buried beneath soil and debris.”
The report offers further investigation into whether the only fire hydrant on the site was functioning or not, but what is the point of a fire hydrant that fire crews can’t find, which council staff don’t know the location of in an emergency, and which gets buried in debris when a major fire starts?
A Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson said: “A multi-agency visit took place in autumn 2024, where fire crews fitted smoke alarms and carried out Home Fires Safety Visits with residents. Hydrant inspectors also tested the water supply to hydrants on the site,” adding that the fire hydrant at Ver Meadows was inspected on the 29 April 2025.”
Contradictions and Calls for Truth
Adding to residents’ anger and confusion, emails from Hertfordshire County Council to the Travellers Times state that crews used the hydrant on the day of the fire. On the 17th July, a Hertfordshire County Council spokesperson told the Travellers Times that: “Firefighters were able to locate and use the hydrant to establish a water supply for firefighting, however they supplemented this with water from the water bowser,” yet this statement directly contradicts the findings of the independent fire report, which states that the site had no functioning fire hydrant during the incident.
“We need answers,” said Claire Rice, Project Coordinator for GaTEssex and Drive2Survive.
“Why does the independent report say there was no hydrant, while the council is telling the media there was one and it was used? This isn’t just miscommunication — it’s misinformation, and it’s putting families at further risk.”
Site Access Failures Added to the Chaos
The report also highlights that Ver Meadows had only one entry/exit point and that: “There were difficulties getting appliances on to the site owing to the number of vehicles exiting via the only access road, which may that although the fire service logs state that the first fire appliances took minutes to arrive at the site, residents claim that it was 45 minutes before the fire crews were able to start firefighting.
Wider Safety Fears Across Hertfordshire County Council Traveller Sites
The contradiction between the council’s press office claims and the independent report has triggered serious concern about the integrity of fire risk assessments across all HCC-managed Traveller sites.
“If the council is stating that hydrants were checked and used — when they clearly weren’t, according to the independent fire report — then how can any Traveller family on any of the other 11 Council-run sites feel safe?” said Rice.
“This goes beyond one fire — it’s a systemic failure, and it demands urgent answers.”
Ver Meadows fire victims are now demanding publication of all Council fire risk assessments for all its sites.
Accountability for Preventable Risks
For many residents and campaigners, the Ver Meadows fire is not just a tragedy — it is the result of years of neglect and institutional disregard for Romany and Traveller communities.
“This report proves what we already knew: the basic safety infrastructure that protects settled communities was never in place for ours,” said Rice.
“No marked hydrants, no clear emergency plans, and only one access road in and out. Our families were set up to fail.”
Campaigners Demand Urgent Action
Campaigners and residents are demanding:
• A full audit of fire safety infrastructure on all Traveller sites across Hertfordshire.
• Immediate testing and restoration of hydrants, with clearly marked access points.
• A transparent, independent review of emergency planning failures at Ver Meadows.
• A public commitment that Traveller families will never again be left in unsafe, high-risk conditions.
“If this had been a housing estate, it would have been unthinkable to allow families to live without basic safety systems,” said Rice.
“But when it’s a Traveller site, it seems acceptable to cut corners and ignore our rights. We are not second-class citizens. We are people — and our lives matter.”
An Avoidable Disaster
For the families who lost everything, the trauma of that day has not faded — and the failure of the system to protect them has only deepened the wound. The evidence in the independent fire report makes one thing clear to campaigners: this was not just a fire — it was a preventable disaster, made worse by decades of institutional neglect.
As one resident put it simply:
“We had no chance.”
TT News