After days of rain and gales, now wild fires tear through Dorset
FLAMES leaping and acrid smoke billowing into the sky, a huge fire rips through bone dry heathland near the south coast.
In scenes resembling a disaster movie, the inferno laid waste to a picturesque area the size of 100 football pitches.
It came after days of storms lashed Britain, with trees felled and roads shut. But the 70 hectare area of Dorset was tinderbox dry as much of it is on a hillside and water had run off down the slope.
The fire was sparked by suspected arsonists in three locations. Fanned by 40mph winds, flames up to 35ft high spread rapidly through the nature reserve near Christchurch.
eighty firefighters spent hours tackling the blaze. Crews had to contend with a 400 yard wide wall of flames that moved at dangerous speeds. The billowing smoke could be seen from around ten miles away in Wimborne and Swanage.
A member of the public raised the alarm at midday on Tuesday. Firefighters remained at the scene in St Catherine’s Hill nature reserve until 1.15am yesterday, after the blaze was finally brought under control.
Police are treating the fire as suspicious and have appealed for witnesses as they investigate what was used to start it. No arrests had yet been made yesterday.
Firefighters said that while it has rained in the area, the hilly landscape meant little moisture remained near the top of the soil. There was also a lot of dead, dry growth left over from winter, which had been the sunniest since records began in
‘Thousands of creatures killed’
1929. Commander Craig Baker of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘It is probably one of the largest heath fires we’ve had for a couple of years. The main problem yesterday was the strength of the wind.’
The area, a site of special scientific interest, is home to all six species of reptile native to the UK, including sands lizard, adders and grass snakes.
experts said thousands of creatures would have been killed by the blaze. Around 50 wildlife volunteers were yesterday rescuing reptiles that survived. Nicky Hoar from Dorset Wildlife Trust said it would take 20 to 30 years for the heathland ecosystem to fully recover.
But 350 miles away, it looked more like Christmas as a coating of snow caused a headache for unprepared commuters yesterday morning.
Residents of Northumberland, Cumbria and County Durham were expecting April showers but the region’s highlands were instead blanketed in a freezing flurry.
Lowson Robinson, who has been working on a model village in his garden in Cumbria for more than ten years, said: ‘ The village looks lovely in the snow. There was a little flurry yesterday but I didn’t expect it to lie.’ The retired coal miner, 67, added: ‘It’s snowing today and I think it might continue until the weekend but then that should be it for the year. The weather here can get pretty bad and we get a lot of snow so it’s hard to tell but spring should be just around the corner.’ Yesterday, forecasters said there is a risk of rain across the country for the rest of the week and it will continue to be a bit colder than the seasonal average.
In the south, temperatures could fall to -1C (30F). John Griffiths of Meteo-Group said: ‘easter Sunday and Monday should be drier and brighter with sunny spells.’