Hotspots remain on heathland after blaze near Rempstone Forest
Firefighters are back on the heathland near Rempstone Forest for a fourth day, as hotspots from a deliberate fire continue to flare up
Firefighters are back on the heathland near Rempstone Forest for a fourth day, as hotspots from a deliberate fire continue to flare up.
We're told dry ground and gusty winds have made it difficult to fully put out the flames since the fire started on Saturday at Newton Heath.
Dorset and Wiltshire crews say they’re making good progress, but people are still being told to avoid the area while the ground remains dangerously hot.
'The ground is still very hot'
Their statement in the early hours of this morning (7/8) said: "Crews have just returned from a fourth day of firefighting from Newton Heath.
"Unfortunately the ground is still very hot with lots of hotspots and will still need lots of work to eliminate these completely.
"Yesterday afternoon, due to high winds and very dry vegetation, a big flare up sparked another large re-ignition.
"Since Sunday, Swanage have been in attendance nearly non-stop with either their Land Rover or off road appliance and sometimes both.
"Crews from across the service will be on scene overnight with a further re-assessment in the morning."
The incident
Dorset and Wiltshire fire crews were originally called to the scene at at 3.28am on 3 August to reports of a fire in the open.
Initially a crew from Weymouth were mobilised followed by further crews from Bridport, Poole, Wimborne, Christchurch, Westbourne, Redhill Park alongside lightweight off-road and support vehicles from Beaminster, Bere Regis, Dorchester, Lyndhurst (Hampshire & Isle of Wight FRS) and a water carrier from Eastleigh (Hampshire & Isle of Wight FRS).
On arrival, they found a wildfire affecting an area of heathland approximately 70 metres by 50 metres. Firefighters are using one main line, hose reel jets and beaters to extinguish.
Later that morning, relief crews started to use multiple main lines and hose reel jets to extinguish the blaze.
At 3pm, firefighters continued in their efforts using multiple main lines and hose reel jets, with the wind causing further spread.
They had approximately 55 firefighters in attendance.
On Monday (4 August), the service said relief crews attended the scene overnight, and they confirmed the blaze affected approximately 19 hectares of heathland.
That afternoon they said crews were still actively firefighting several small seats of fire, adding they believed the cause to be deliberate.
Yesterday, overnight further relief crews prevented the spread of fire and extinguished flare ups, fuelled by strong winds.
The fire also triggered a large smoke plume which was visible from some distance away.
Read more: Ongoing Newton Heath blaze 'flared up by the wind'