Holme Fen: Firefighters to leave scene of blaze after 31 days tackling 'biggest incident faced in county for years'
Fire crews are finally leaving Holme Fen – 31 days after a giant fire engulfed the nature reserve.
The fire – described as the biggest incident that Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has faced in many years – started on Saturday August 8 – and at its peak, scores of firefighters from across the country were brought in to tackle the flames.
The Service called on National Resilience assets and crews to help tackle the fire, which was spread over a wide area of the site, equivalent to around 60 football pitches, within a four kilometre perimeter, and deep seated below ground level in the peat.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Stuart Smith said: “This has been the biggest incident our county has faced in many, many years.
"We have seen crews from every fire station attend at some point during the response, as well as the fantastic support we’ve received from our colleagues across the country through National Resilience arrangements.
"It’s been an extremely tough incident, especially with the gruelling hot weather we’ve seen over the last month or so, but we have reached a point where we feel it is safe for us to withdraw all crews and hand the site back over to Natural England.”
At its height, more than 100 firefighters were on site. Even in its second week around 50 firefighters were needed throughout the day and 30 overnight to keep the fire under control and support the clearing of the site, tackling smaller outbreaks of fire. In its third week the major incident status was stood down and National Resilience crews returned to their home counties, leaving Cambridgeshire crews on site to support the continued work to clear the site and tackle hot spots.
Stuart continued: “We’ve had outstanding support from many people and places throughout the incident, which we are extremely grateful for. It's not just the front facing firefighters, the work behind the scenes to manage an incident like this is phenomenal. Our own officers, control operators and support colleagues ensured those on site had everything they needed and that we could maintain emergency cover across the county for other incidents, plus our neighbouring fire and rescue services have been incredibly supportive in helping with that too. Partner agencies, particularly the Environment Agency and Middle Level Commissioners have played a major role in ensuring we had water supplies. We've needed road closures, had ambulance colleagues on standby and worked closely with Natural England and contractors on site, who have worked so hard, to help us bring this fire to a safe conclusion as quickly as possible.
"The local community has been incredible too, including local farmers. We've had so many offers of support and so much appreciation shown for the fire service. The Rapid Relief Team, The Admiral Wells pub, Ramsey Town Council and everyone who has supported their efforts to provide food for firefighters at the scene has been at the heart of the community response. Thank you doesn't seem enough, but we are so grateful for the support everyone has given."