Dunwich Heath wildfire grows to 150 hectares

A wildfire at Dunwich Heath in eastern England has grown to around 150 hectares and forced dozens of residents and visitors to evacuate, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said on July 30.

The service said firefighters were “making good progress”, but changing wind conditions were making the blaze’s spread unpredictable. London’s fire service was sending six fire engines to join 18 fire engines and 120 firefighters already at the scene.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said it expected the response near England’s east coast to continue for at least the next 48 hours. It declared a major incident late on July 29 after flames broke out earlier in the day and began to threaten local properties, including a caravan holiday park.

The wildfire is less than 10 miles from the Sizewell B nuclear power station and the Sizewell C construction site. Fire officials said the blaze was not currently expected to spread to the area.

Adam Rowlands, Suffolk manager for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said his team on the ground had described “scenes of utter devastation”. He said species using the heathland habitats could lose habitat if vegetation was removed.

The blaze follows a period of exceptionally dry and hot weather. Wales and more than half of England are in drought, and the National Fire Chiefs Council said more than 200 fires broke out in England and Wales between July 16 and July 28.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was receiving regular updates about the “very serious incident” and pledged that emergency responders would get any support they needed. In Scotland, firefighters remained at the scene of a separate wildfire in Cairngorms National Park, which has been burning for more than two weeks and destroyed about 10 square miles of moorland.