More than 50 firefighters brought a new wildfire near Hale Purlieu in the New Forest under control after two days of work. Hampshire Fire and Rescue said on Sunday afternoon that crews had received the stop order and the blaze was extinguished.
Matt Rowe of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said the first firefighters on the scene "realised that the fire was spreading very quickly". He said crews were still on site damping down nearly 24 hours later, after the fire covered about 2,400 sq m.
Hale Purlieu hillside response
The fire was reported at about 14:30 BST on Saturday near Hale Purlieu in the New Forest, and crews were scaled back overnight because visibility fell. They returned on Sunday to keep working on the hillside site, where Rowe said access had been "a challenge" and firefighters had to use saws to cut trees away to get in.
Rowe said water supply was also difficult. He described the use of carriers and water dams, saying: "It allows them to dump the water into the dam, then the fire appliances can use that water to fight the fire whilst the water carrier goes off and fills up from a local hydrant".
National Grid at Hale
The service handed the incident over to the National Grid because an electrical pylon was within the vicinity of the blaze. The National Grid said it was aware of a fire beneath a section of overhead electricity lines near Hale, that emergency services were attending the incident, and that it was supporting the response.
Rowe said the fire had started near a public footpath and the site of ongoing works on nearby electrical pylons. He also said: "It's a very large area and it's difficult to actually see what started the fire at this time." The National Grid said there were no impacts on electricity supplies.
