Major wildfire burns through Suffolk heathland, 90 firefighters deployed
Seventeen crews and about 90 firefighters battled a major blaze on Dunwich Heath as flames spread toward St James' Church.
Seventeen fire crews tackled a major blaze on Dunwich Heath on the Suffolk coast as flames spread rapidly south-west toward St James' Church off Westleton Road. Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service treated the fire as a major incident, with about 90 firefighters working at the scene.
Suffolk County Council had 14 fire appliances in attendance and crews were using specialist equipment to reach the heathland fire. The response included Unimogs, drones and 4x4 quad bikes, reflecting the difficult terrain on a protected coastal landscape near Leiston that is also used by the public.
The National Trust, which manages Dunwich Heath and Beach, was assisting firefighters at the scene and asked people to stay away from the area. The fire broke out on Wednesday evening and burned through heathland on the Suffolk coast, an environment made up of dry vegetation that can allow flames to move quickly when conditions are right.
Fire crews tackled a 200-acre blaze in a field at East Bergholt earlier in July, and on 7 July two people were treated by paramedics after a caravan fire at Undley. That incident drew crews from Suffolk, Norfolk and the USAF Mildenhall Fire Department.
For residents, walkers and visitors around Dunwich Heath, roads and access routes near the fire were affected, public access was discouraged, and multiple agencies were committed to keeping the blaze from moving further toward nearby buildings and open countryside.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
