16 hectares destroyed in fire near Longmoor Army Camp
On Friday 16 June, a fire broke out near Longmoor Army Camp, affecting an area of 16 hectares consisting of woodland and scrubland. Multiple crews from across the county, along with assistance from Surrey Fire and Rescue, responded to the incident. Initially, four hose reel jets and four land rovers were utilised to combat the fire. The primary objective was to confine the fire within a designated area and prevent its escalation, minimising environmental damage.
Throughout the weekend, as the fire continued to develop, various relief strategies were implemented to maintain the capacity of the firefighting teams. Due to heavy smoke from the incident, various air quality advisories were sent out to make locals aware as the fire progressed. By Sunday morning, the fire had been successfully contained within the intended footprint, resulting in only localised smoke plumes. Consequently, the incident was scaled down, with a few crews remaining on-site to monitor hotspots and prevent any further spread of the fire.
On Sunday evening the incident was further downscaled to only one engine and two land rovers, ensuring ongoing monitoring and preventing any potential escalation
After conducting a watching brief overnight crews continued to extinguish the remainder of the fire ahead of a further scaling down of resources at the incident.
The stop message came in at around midday on Tuesday 20th June when the incident was handed over to the land owner.
One Land Rover crew will return to the scene to conduct reinspections at intervals over the next day.
