Heathland Fires

Hello everyone,

On Wednesday last week I planned to email you all today to let you know that we will soon be entering the heathland fire season any minute now. Unfortunately we had 2 fires on Caesars Camp, 1 on Velmead Common and 2 on Long Valley all within 5 days of each other before i could get chance to warn you all.

Anyway my warning I suppose is still valid especially if the weather stays as it is. Statistically ( and the fire brigade record all incidents that are reported to them) April has the highest number of fires on heathlands throughout the year. the statistics can even pinpoint that the majority of fires occur between the hours of 3pm and 4pm. Obviously this does not mean all fires occur at these times but the majority of them do.

So what does this mean for you?

Firstly take extra care when walking on the heaths at this time of year, especially if it is dry and then is a breeze.

Secondly, ensure that somebody knows where you are, just in case something happens, and more importantly when you expect to be home.

Always try to carry a mobile phone with you. A fire, if reported early, is much much easier to contain and control than if it is left unreported.

Always call 999 if the fire brigade are not present. please do not assume that somebody else must have and more often than not people will not report anything. The fire services will easily be able to tell you with 30 seconds if there are already fire personnel on their way.

Once you have called 999, please give one of the grazing project a ring to let us know there is a fire. We can liaise with the MoD wardens as to how big the fire is and whether the cattle are in danger and so require moving.

Lastly, and most importantly, do not try to tackle the fire yourself. Heathland fires can appear to be very slow and sluggish and seem quite puny but in fact they are stored up energy ready to ignite the next waiting gorse bush and believe you and me gorse goes up like rocket fuel!

So keep your distance, call 999 and then call us.

I hop[e this helps and hope even more that you never need to take any of these actions.

Elliott