Heavy rain hampers fire fighters efforts at Holme Fen blaze

A fire was started on August 8, and more than three weeks on crews are still working at the scene.

And while it may seem counter-intuitive, as The Peterborough Telegraph reported earlier in the mission, the last thing fire fighters wanted was heavy rain.

Much of the work going on at the scene is associated with moving the huge amount of fallen trees away from the site, and uncovering ‘hot spots’ in the peat – and the rain has made travelling round the reserve difficult in the very heavy vehicles being used.

Some of the equipment needed at the scene weighs up to 30 tonnes, and the storms that hit last week have turned some of the land into a boggy swamp.

When The Peterborough Telegraph visited the scene, you could feel the earth vibrate as the machinery drove past.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Whilst the rainfall has raised the moisture content of the peat, it has impacted the ability for heavy machinery to be used to clear the area.

“This has created another challenge for those responding. Despite that, firefighters continue to be on scene over the coming days, continuing their efforts in dealing with the incident.

“Machinery will be back on site today to continue assisting with the incident.”

Speaking to The Peterborough Telegraph in August, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Stuart Smith said: “A sprinkling of rain isn't going to hurt - but if we get massive downpours, thunderstorms – we have one access road around the site, which is obviously peat, it will make it really challenging to access the site ourselves.

“More importantly for stage 2 of the plan, we need access into the main part of the site - the equipment coming in is 28-30 tonnes, and therefore if it becomes boggy in there, they won't be able to access the site, and we will have to re-think our plan on how we attack the rest of this fire.”