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TikTok star jumps fence to help fight Birmingham fire and raises 11,000 for victims

A TikTok star known as Ringz N Tiingz was one of the first at the scene of a fire in Gorleston Road, Birmingham, on Thursday as it ripped through people's homes, later calling the scene 'overwhelming'

[Fire damaged properties on Gorleston Road]

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Fire damaged properties on Gorleston Road(Image: Emma Trimble / SWNS)

A TikTok star has revealed how he leapt over a garden fence in a bid to prevent fire from spreading between properties and help those caught up in the blaze.

The 35-year-old TikToker, known as Ringz N Tiingz, said he was one of the first on the scene of a fire in Gorleston Road, Birmingham, on Thursday, as it tore through residents' homes.

Ringz N Tiingz said he was on his way to the shops when he noticed "unusual, thick smoke" in the air, and followed it to a small field.

He said: "I went into the field, and I could see everything on fire. There was a row of houses you can see from from the field, and the grass and everything was just on fire."

[Residents in the houses and a nearby care home were evacuated ]

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Residents in the houses and a nearby care home were evacuated (Image: Sophie Robinson/PA Wire)

Ringz N Tiingz said he started livestreaming the fire before making the decision to get "actively involved" in helping people.

He said: "As the fire was spreading, I just ran just before the fire (reached me), jumped over this fence to go check if people's all right.

"I'd seen they was evacuating the building, so I left them to do it. But then a bit further down, I've seen someone else run into the fence. So I just ran to the fence, and I've seen someone come running out the back door.

"But then he's ran back into his house, because on the one side there was fire, and then on the other side there was the fire just started.

"So me and him was in the garden. We're trying to put out this fire, but it was just too big. It was too hot, so we've ended up kicking down this back gate, jumping back over the fence, and then just trying to stop the fire from spreading."

He revealed that he and another man rushed to a nearby care home in search of fire extinguishers to help bring the blaze under control.

He said: "The care home was getting evacuated, and we just stopped the fire from spreading, because if the fire would have carried on spreading, the bushes would have went up, the trees would have went up, and then eventually that care home would have went up as well."

He described watching elderly residents being brought out of the care home some in their beds or wheelchairs, others connected to medical equipment.

"If I'm honest, it felt overwhelming, as in it was emotional," Ringz N Tingz said. "It was just like, 'Oh my God... these are people's houses'. People are screaming... shouting. It was crazy. It was absolutely hectic."

He added: "These people have got nothing. They've been living there for 30 years. They've got generational photos, that's all gone.

"The jewellery, everything's just gone. They've got nothing. One lady, bless her, the only items what she's got is the clothes what she was wearing. It's so sad."

Some 4-5,000 people tuned into the livestream to watch the events unfold, the TikToker said.

To support those displaced from their homes in Gorleston Road, Ringz N Tingz has launched a fundraising page, urging his followers to contribute. "While we were doing what we were doing, towards the end of the night we could see the damage what's been caused, so we decided to set up a GoFundMe," he said. "We managed to raise 11,000 in the space of 24 hours."

The appeal is just one of numerous campaigns on the crowdfunding platform that has been launched to support wildfire victims. GoFundMe estimates that more than 110,000 has been raised across the various appeals combined.

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