Firefighter’s message amid ‘serious incident’ at Cambridgeshire nature reserve

Fire crews say there is a “significant risk” of the blaze spreading

Firefighters are urging people to stay away from a “serious” ongoing fire at Holme Fen in Holme. Fire crews have been tackling the major blaze in the open since Saturday morning (August 8) and say there is a “significant risk” of it spreading.

Firefighters arrived to find a fire “well alight” involving hedges and undergrowth. Crews were at the scene throughout the weekend working to make it safe and bring the fire under control.

More than 80 firefighters were at the scene during its peak, including from neighbouring fire and rescue services. That has now been scaled down to around 20 firefighters. Locals have been told that, due to the weather conditions, they may still see or smell smoke in the area.

In an update shared to Facebook, area commander Simon Thompson said: “Over the last few hours we have had to change our firefighting tactics which has delayed some of the response for us. The reason for that is over the last few hours our firefighters have started experiencing trees falling in and around the area within the forest. So as a matter of safety we are having to bring our firefighters to a point of safety where they can also try and protect the fire.

“There’s still a significant risk that this fire can spread and we are working incredibly hard through the night and into tomorrow [Monday] to try and make sure that this won’t happen. What we would ask at this time is for all people to please stay from the area whether that’s pedestrians who want to come to the area to walk, or other vehicles.

“With 20 appliances on scene and firefighters in the area, the area is unsafe in places and we would not want people to put themselves at risk of any harm. Likewise with 20 appliances there are a number of vehicle movements in the area so the road network is quite busy in the small area.”

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service previously said three are road closures in place at the junction of Hod Fen Drove and Holme Lode, all of Holme Lode and the junction of Long Drove/B660 and New Long Drove. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.