More than 80 tackle fire at peatland nature reserve

An aerial shot of the woodland at Holme Fen, with smoke billowing up from one end of the woods. You can see several white and red fire engines parked in a row, from above. The woods are surrounded by ploughed fields.

More than 80 firefighters have been tackling a blaze that broke out on a peatland nature reserve.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to Holme Fen near Peterborough at 10:24 BST on Saturday.

It is the second fire at the reserve within two weeks.

Crews have been working at the site overnight and several local road closures are in place.

More than 40 firefighters first attended the site on 27 July to tackle a blaze, which the service said was "deep seated in peat", making it likely to burn for longer.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said crews were working in "arduous conditions".

"They are continuing to work hard to contain the fire and stop it from spreading further, and have been working in sectors," the service wrote on Facebook.

It also thanked "all the farmers and members of the public who have offered water to help us with the ongoing incident".

The aftermath of a fire in a nature reserve. It is in a wooded area where smoke is filling the air.

Several local roads have been closed and Cambridgeshire Police have also been at the scene.

The junction of Hod Fen Drove and Holme Lode has been closed off as has the junction of Long Drove for the B660 and New Long Drove, and all of Holme Lode.

Visitors were advised to stay clear of the area, which is managed by Natural England, and the Wildlife Trust asked people to keep dogs on a lead until confirmation that the fire had been fully extinguished.

"[Crews] have been working extremely hard in sectors to get the fire under control and stop it from spreading. They have been using equipment such as beaters to control and extinguish the fire," the fire service said at the weekend.

A cornfield with woods behind it, which are on fire. A large plume of smoke rises into the blue sky.
Smoke can be seen rising from a wooded area and there are farmers' fields in the distance

Nev Burgess, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service's incident commander, previously told the BBC it was "incredibly difficult" to know the exact location of peat fires "because it burns under the surface and it burns quite fiercely".

He estimated the fire had taken hold at least 1m (3.3ft) below the surface.

"My previous experience is that these do tend to last for days as opposed to hours because of the type of fire that they are and the access we need," he said.

The original fire is being investigated as a suspected arson attack, and Cambridgeshire Police has urged anyone with information to contact the force.

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Original source More than 80 tackle fire at peatland nature reserve

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