Suffolk wildfire near Sizewell nuclear plant ‘stabilising’ after 24 hours

Emergency crews say situation remains ‘dynamic’ as more than 100 firefighters battle Dunwich Heath blaze

A wildfire near Britain’s biggest nuclear power station has caused “total devastation” to one of the UK’s most important landscapes, as fire crews said the situation remained “dynamic”.

More than 100 firefighters have been battling the blaze on Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, on the Suffolk coast since Wednesday evening. The fire service said on Friday afternoon the situation was stabilising but remained a “major incident” that was “dynamic and potentially changeable”.

Firefighting efforts have included a helicopter capable of dropping 1,000 litres of seawater on each pass and six London fire brigade appliances.

The fire has burned approximately 150 hectares (370 acres), equivalent to 210 football pitches, of vegetation and forest on Dunwich Heath and the Minsmere nature reserve, which are both protected sites and home to some of the UK’s rarest species.

Russell Clement, the general manager for the National Trust on the Suffolk coast, said the fire had “torn through” the entire Dunwich Heath National Trust reserve.

Clement said the reserve was now “unrecognisable” and the fire had caused “total devastation” to one of the UK’s most important coastal heathland landscapes.

Hilary McGrady, the National Trust’s director general, on Friday launched an emergency fundraising appeal for the restoration of the heathland, a rare “lowland heath” that is visited by 100,000 people each year.

McGrady said: “We are looking at total devastation of a beloved and important landscape. We’ve lost precious habitats, wildlife, trees, and a place where people have made memories over generations. It’s heartbreaking.

“But together we can and will restore Dunwich, and crucially, make it more resilient and better adapted for the climate we’re facing now, and the climate we’ll be facing in future.”

Adam Rowlands, the area manager for the RSPB Minsmere nature reserve, said it would probably take decades for the vegetation to be re-established in the way it was before the fire.

The reserve is home to some of the rarest bird species in the UK including nightjars, nightingales and Dartford warblers. Rowlands said he had seen nightjars flying away from a 20ft fireball.

He said any birds that had survived the fire were “likely to perish” because they would not be able to find a suitable habitat to feed and breed in.

The wildfire came as half of England was declared to be officially in drought , including East Anglia and six other areas. On Thursday, Natural Resources Wales declared a drought across the whole of Wales. England and Wales are on track to record their driest Julys since records began nearly 200 years ago, according to provisional Met Office statistics released on Friday.

As most of Europe experienced its fourth heatwave of the summer, intensified by the burning of fossil fuels, fire crews in other parts of the UK tackled multiple wildfires this week.

On Friday morning about 50 firefighters were tackling a blaze that broke out on Ministry of Defence land in Middlewick Ranges, Colchester. By the afternoon, Essex county fire and rescue services said the number of firefighters had been reduced to 40 and added: “Firefighters continue to make good progress at the scene and are now focusing on extinguishing the remaining hotspots across the affected area.”

Crews in Scotland also said they had made “significant progress” on a fire in the Cairngorms that first broke out two weeks ago, while several wildfires have broken out across Doncaster this week.

The Suffolk blaze is a few miles from Sizewell B nuclear power station and the construction site for the new Sizewell C plant.

Freddie Gulliver, an emergency manager at the Suffolk joint emergency planning unit, said there was no immediate concern about the fire spreading towards Sizewell B.

EDF, which operates the site, said: “The fire at Dunwich Heath is not currently affecting operations at Sizewell B power station, but we are continuing to monitor the situation. We are not on high alert.”

About 50 people have been evacuated from their homes and a nearby holiday park, with some being moved to Westleton, where the village hall was turned into a rest centre.

Connor Dowsett, 23, who was told to leave Cliff House holiday park in Dunwich on Wednesday before his dog was rescued by officers, told the Press Association the fire felt like the “end of the world”.

Dowsett, who is from Essex, said: “We noticed the moon … It was very orange. As we were getting closer, we could see the glow of the fire. We could see the brown smoke filling the air. The smell was powerful. It was like, ‘wow’.”

While it has not yet been established what caused the fire, Jon Lacey, the chief fire officer at Suffolk fire and rescue, advised people to avoid using disposable barbecues, even in their own gardens.

“The ground is so dry at the moment and fires do start a lot more quickly than people expect,” he said.

According to the Met Office, Suffolk has only received 2% of its average monthly rainfall for July. Lacey said the recent hot and dry weather had made the fire significantly worse.

He added that the changing climate was a key element of the fire service’s community risk management plan. “We know as it gets hotter that, as a fire service, we need to be prepared,” he said.

Because most wildfires are caused by human activity, the Wildlife Trust said it was “vital that everyone follows official fire safety guidance, including no barbecues, no cigarette butts, no littering”.

Jon Pearce, the Labour MP for High Peak, has called on retailers across the UK to suspend the sale of disposable barbecues as the risk of wildfires continues to rise.

The prime minister, Andy Burnham, said Suffolk’s fire service would have “all of the support” it needed to tackle the wildfire.

The Green party leader, Zack Polanski, called for Burnham to host an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss wildfires across Britain, including the Suffolk blaze.