Around 60 acres of natural habitat has been destroyed on Headon Warren as a result of yesterday’s devastating blaze, which firefighters continue to tackle this morning (Friday).
Overnight, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has maintained a significant presence at the West Wight beauty spot, dousing the flames and damping down the charred gorse.
The fire is affecting a 25-hectare area of woodland – that’s around 240,000 sqm.
At its height, the operation saw more than 80 firefighters on scene. That has been scaled back to 60, but the size of the incident is still significant and requires large-scale mobilisation of mainland appliances.
High Volume Pumps are still being utilised to draw water from the sea, pumping thousands of gallons up hill to the top of the heathland.
Members of the public are being asked to stay away from the site.
A spokesperson for HIWFRS has this morning said:
“Our Control Room and command teams continue to oversee the management of our resources, maintaining resilience across our areas and ensuring the rotation of crews in attendance, allowing our firefighters the deserved time to rest and recover away from the incident ground”.
It is thought that crews could remain on the fire ground for 3 days.
UPDATE @ 09:59 – Firefighting efforts have evolved, with a helicopter called in to drop seawater onto the charred headland.
Read more at https://www.islandecho.co.uk/helicopter-drafted-in-to-douse-headon-warren-wildfire-with-seawater/.
This really is very bad news for the wildlife in the area, especially as it appears it may have been started by human hands. Still, full marks to the fire service for their response and commitment, especially damping down the charred horse, RIP dear equine.
I understand they had to do it.
Had it just been fire, the heather would have regrown. But because they had to douse with seawater it won’t, and will change the ecology of that land, possibly forever. Barren land for best part of a year or two. The potential for soil erosion and collapse is huge.
And all because people are thoughtless, selfish and stupid.
This is heartbreaking, and all because of one person lighting a fire. Hats off to the firefighters, they must be exhausted.