Wareham Forest fire: Picnics not BBQs urged in bid to stop repeat

A year ago a fire destroyed hundreds of acres of forest and heathland in Dorset.

It started on 18 May and burned for more than two weeks, affecting 540 acres (220 hectares) of Wareham Forest.

It is thought to have been started by a disposable barbecue or a camp-fire.

A wildfire prevention campaign has now been launched by Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, which urges people to bring a picnic, not a barbecue, to open places like Wareham Forest.

At its peak, more than 150 firefighters, from almost every station across Dorset and Wiltshire, attended the fire.

Hundreds more were brought in from across the region, including Avon, Devon and Somerset, Hampshire, Berkshire, South Wales and West Sussex.

Forestry England also launched a specialist helicopter to "water bomb" the area, as smoke drifted as far away as Bournemouth.

The estimated cost of the blaze to the fire service was about £500,000.

Mark Warn, wildlife ranger at Forestry England, said: "The wildfire here showed how somewhere as special as this can be so quickly devastated by one careless act.

"We all have a role in preventing wildfires and one of the simplest ways is to leave the BBQ at home, they are not permitted and are not welcome in the forest."

The forest is a habitat for all six species of British reptile, including the rare smooth snake and sand lizard, and hundreds are thought to have died.

Forestry England has estimated it could take the forest "decades" to recover.

Wareham Forest covers 1,500 hectares, one third of which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

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