Quantock Hills Blog
EARTH, WIND AND FIRE
- The heat is on.
Posted by Andy Harris on 18 March 2010
Any unplanned fire on the heathland isn’t just frustrating but can also have devastating affect on this nationally important habitat.
On Monday Tim and I arranged to meet volunteers at midday to carry out a swale on Hare Knap. However as we arrived at Withyman’s Pool car park we could see smoke rising from the other end of the common above Willoughby Cleeve. It didn’t take long for us to realise this was an unplanned fire and we rang 999 requesting the Fire Brigade attend.
As we had all our swaling kit with us including our 1000ltr bowser we made our way to the fire and met the first of the Fire crews to arrive on site. We soon began to work alongside the Fire Brigade helping to bring the advancing fire front under control and getting it put out in less than an hour. Some of our other equipment came in useful such as the Scotty Pack (19ltr rucksacks filled with water) to help damp down any remaining hotspots but most of all the practice and training we do every year proved most valuable in a time of pressure.
The silver lining in this incident is that the unplanned burn occurred within the swaling season and that no wildlife will have been badly affected by the fire. However the habitat that was lost (approx 3-4ha) was ideal for Dartford Warblers whose population has gone through the floor over the past two winters and they need all the best habitat available to make a come back. There’s a lot of thought that goes into which sites are swaled each year and any unplanned fire won’t take account these considerations.
Tim and I would like to thank Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service for their prompt action, professionalism and for the fish and chips at the end. Also we would like to thank two of our volunteers Dave Pusill and Keith Edwards who got stuck in and helped to extinguish the fire quickly and most importantly safely.
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