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3rd April 2025
11:34am BST
A huge wildfire tore through a nature reserve overnight after an exceptional dry spell.
Met Office had issued fire warnings before the wildfire broke out at Upton Heath in Poole, Dorset.
Thick smoke and orange flames leapt into the air as emergency services raced to the scene.
Dozens of emergency crews cordoned off the area near the A35 Upton Bypass as the flames came close to the road in dramatic scenes.
The Bournemouth and Poole areas have seen an extended dry spell and above-average temperatures for this time of year.
The fire service said the wildfire broke out shortly before midnight and destroyed more than 37 acres.
Crews are also tackling another fire on Canford Heath this morning around three miles east of Upton Heath, the fire service said on social media.
The fire service: "Firefighters from across our area are tackling the blaze, which has affected an area of around 500m x 50m.
"Many of these crews have been working through the night at the Upton Heath fire.
"At this stage, we don’t know what caused the fire to start, but an investigation will take place once the fire is fully under control."
Residents close to the scene took to social media to share footage of the raging inferno.
One resident said: "Massive fire by Holes Bay getting worse by the second."
A second said: "This is heartbreaking. Everything is just starting to come back to life, birds are nesting everything is renewing and now it’s all on fire. It just breaks my heart."
This isn’t the first fire in Dorset – there have been two previous incidents on Monday and Tuesday, forcing a country park near the Hampshire border to close, according to BBC News.
Moors Valley Country Park and Forest said it will remain closed today as firefighters ‘continue to monitor a number of fires and assess their impact.’
Social and feature image credit: Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service.
