Casualties of the heathland fire at Stephens Castle

Dorset is currently in an amber wildfire alert, yet a fire was started at Stephens Castle, Verwood on Wednesday, which devastated 4.7 hectares of rare lowland heath.

Crews from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service fought the flames for 8 hours before bringing the blaze under control. Crews are still on scene today, two days after the original ignition, damping down hotspots. Whilst firefighting, the mains water outlet they were using collapsed, so they had to syphon water from the heathland pond.

When natural water sources are used in this way the crews check and clear the filter regularly.  During a regular check they found some rare great crested (Triturus cristatus) and palmate (Lissotriton helveticus) newts had been drawn into the filter. This meant they stopped immediately and very carefully freed the amphibians back into the pond. Sadly, there were several fatalities, along with more heathland creatures which perished in the flames.

DWFRS Wildfire Tactical Advisor, Andy Elliott said:
“Wildfires at this time of year can be devastating to wildlife with ground nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians all being badly affected. I’m really pleased at how the crews reacted so quickly to this unfortunate incident by immediately stopping all pumping operations and taking action to release the trapped newts. We have to thank our colleagues from Forestry England who provided a tractor and bowser to enable us to continue damping down.”

The Urban Heaths Partnership (UHP) works hard to reduce the impacts of wildfires on heathlands across Dorset and to protect and enhance these areas as well as raise the understanding of their habitat and history. Everyone can help protect the heaths from fire. If you see a fire, get to safety and call the fire service on 999.
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A forest fire broke out at Parley Common Nature reserve on Weds June 7th and was dealt with by fire crews from Ferndown and Verwood. (https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/fire-breaks-dorset-nature-171800709.html?guccounter=1)