Second fire breaks out at peatland nature reserve

A second fire has broken out on a peatland nature reserve within two weeks.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to Holme Fen near Peterborough at 10:24 BST on Saturday.

More than 40 firefighters first attended the site on 27 July to tackle a blaze, which the service said was "deep seated in peat", making it likely to burn for longer.

By Saturday evening, the incident had been "scaled back" after teams worked "extremely hard" to contain the fire.

Eight crews, including one from Northamptonshire, had arrived to find hedges and undergrowth alight at the site, which is managed by Natural England.

Visitors were advised to stay clear of the area, and the Wildlife Trust asked people to keep dogs on a lead until confirmation that the fire had been fully extinguished.

"[Crews] have been working extremely hard in sectors to get the fire under control and stop it from spreading. They have been using equipment such as beaters to control and extinguish the fire," the fire service said.

After checking for hotspots and dampening down to prevent further spread, a crew remained at the scene as a safety precaution.

Nev Burgess, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service's incident commander, previously told the BBC it was "incredibly difficult" to know the exact location of peat fires "because it burns under the surface and it burns quite fiercely".

He estimated the fire had taken hold at least 1m (3.3ft) below the surface.

"My previous experience is that these do tend to last for days as opposed to hours because of the type of fire that they are and the access we need," he said.

The original fire is being investigated as a suspected arson attack, and Cambridgeshire Police has urged anyone with information to contact the force.

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