Hampshire and Dorset crews tackle large woodland fire at Moors Valley Country Park

*09:00*

Firefighters left the scene at around 8pm last night having handed the incident over to Forestry England teams to monitor overnight.

The stop message came in at 19:41 shortly before road closures were lifted by police.

A crew from Ringwood returned to the scene this morning to conduct a reinspection and check for remaining hotspots.

*17:40*

The incident is now being scaled down with relief crews set to take over from the firefighters who were first on the scene.

*17:15*

These pictures from the scene show the damaged woodland which the fire has left behind.

This is an important reminder to always follow the countryside code and our top safety tips when out enjoying our beautiful wildlife areas.

Find out how you can prevent wildfire here.

 

*15:50*

Crews are working hard to dampen down the large area of woodland affected by the blaze.

Fortunately, there have been no casualties reported.

Verwood Road has been closed to allow access for emergency services vehicles, so please continue to avoid the area.

*14:30*

Firefighters are currently tackling a large woodland fire at Moors Valley Country Park.

Crews from Ringwood, Burley, Beaulieu, Eastleigh, Fordingbridge, Romsey, Redbridge, Portchester, St Mary’s and SHQ are working closely with colleagues from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service after we were first alerted at around midday.

There are approximately 80 firefighters on the scene working to control the blaze involving 400m x 500m of woodland.

There is currently a wildfire alert in place across parts of our area so please remember to follow the countryside code when out enjoying our greenspaces.