Dorset heathland fires: Sixth incident in four days

Fire crews have put out a sixth fire in four days on heathland in Dorset.

The fire service said over 30 calls about the fire on Higher Blandford Road near Corfe Hills School in Poole came in on Tuesday shortly after 19:30 BST.

Ten crews and a water carrier were sent to the fire which destroyed two hectares (five acres) of heathland.

It follows five fires that were started deliberately on heathland in Poole and Bournemouth on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

A total of 104 firefighters attended those.

Crews tackled the blaze near Corfe Hills School in Poole on Tuesday evening

Antony Bholah, Group Manager for Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said: "It was rapidly developing and heading towards properties in the area.

"It spread very quickly but fortunately crews were able to get around it and worked really hard to stop it spreading... but it was a real danger at one point.

"We are carrying out an investigation working with the police, but we are looking at it as being deliberate or careless.

"The impact is significant, it's a lot of resources and it's a dangerous environment for our crews."

Smoke from the heath fire could be seen billowing into the sky from houses nearby

He added the fire near the school was not being linked to the five fires over the weekend "at the moment" but the service believes "some of those may be linked".

The fire service said a cause for Tuesday's fire had not yet been established.

Dorset Police said inquiries into the spate of fires were ongoing.

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