Woodbury Commons Fire: 20 Acres Destroyed

by alia_d | July 3, 2009 at 08:59 am

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Woodbury Commons, a common land in East Devon, UK that is popular for hiking and mountain biking, was "severely damaged" by a fire with blazing fronts 400 meters long that occurred on Saturday, June 27.

The Woodbury Commons fire burned 20 acres of land that contained gorse, a spiny shrub.

A local newspaper, Devon 24, reported that firefighters began fighting the fire at Woodbury Commons on Saturday, June 26, at 2:20 pm. Crowds of spectators gathered to watch the flames. Police came to the scene to help manage the traffic at Woodbury Castle car park, which was also being used as a rendez-vouz point for firefighters.

Officials were concerned that the blaze would spread further because of high winds, but firefighters had the fire under control by about 5:00 pm.

The blaze at its height had two fire fronts approximately 400 metres each in length, which were being fanned by strong winds.

Crews from Exmouth, Budleigh Salteron and Topsham were called to the scene but once the scale of the fire was established several other crews were called to assist.