{"id":868490,"date":"2025-08-27T23:15:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T04:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/27\/homes-evacuated-and-major-incident-declared-as-wildfire-spreads-near-bournemouth\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T23:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T04:15:25","slug":"homes-evacuated-and-major-incident-declared-as-wildfire-spreads-near-bournemouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/27\/homes-evacuated-and-major-incident-declared-as-wildfire-spreads-near-bournemouth\/","title":{"rendered":"Homes evacuated and major incident declared as wildfire spreads near Bournemouth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"js-article-text\">\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Have YOU been affected? Email <span \n                data-original-string='HpVVgiZVVZWC7qxE1+UJ9Q==7f4H5sq3bUT+0nqJdUyhSMMHOuAhQMNUVrHTU3ozB8hU5o='\n                class='apbct-email-encoder'\n                title='This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.'>el<span class=\"apbct-blur\">**********<\/span>@<span class=\"apbct-blur\">***********<\/span>co.uk<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-4401\/eleanor-mann.html\">ELEANOR MANN, JUNIOR NEWS REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n<p><span> <span>Published:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2025-08-10T00:29:04+0100\"> 19:29 EDT, 9 August 2025 <\/time> <\/span> | <span> <span>Updated:<\/span> <time datetime=\"2025-08-10T02:31:57+0100\"> 21:31 EDT, 9 August 2025 <\/time> <\/span> <\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>A major incident has been declared as 100 firefighters tackle a blaze ripping through Holt Heath in Bournemouth.<\/p>\n<p>Dorset &#038; Wiltshire Fire and Rescue are fighting to control the blaze which broke out near Wimbourne just after 11am on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Locals have been advised to stay clear of the area and 20 homes have been evacuated as residents are being ordered to keep their windows and doors shut.<\/p>\n<p>Dorset &#038; Wiltshire Fire Service are currently also fighting another blaze at Newton Heath, near Swanage, which broke out last Sunday on August 3 and is the size of about 35 football pitches.<\/p>\n<p>Darren Langdown, Dorset &#038; Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service&#8217;s assistant chief fire officer, said the force was &#8216;extremely grateful&#8217; to neighbouring services from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who have helped battle the fire.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Langdown said: &#8216;We have declared a major incident both due to the size of the fire at Holt Heath, and also the impact of this and Newton Heath on our overall availability of resources.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He also urged the public not to fly drones near the fire, as it could interfere with those currently being used by the fire service crews.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Holt Heath fire, which covers an area about 1000m x 800m, has resulted in road closures in Holt Heath village and at the junction between Holt Road and Higher Road.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A major incident has been declared as about 100 firefighters are tackling a fire ripping through Holt Heath in Bournemouth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Dorset &#038; Wiltshire Fire and Rescue are fighting to control the blaze which broke out near Wimbourne just after 11am on Saturday<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Windy conditions are said to be making the fire harder to tackle, as firefighters are trying to surround the area to prevent it spreading further.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Residents compared the scene to a &#8216;horror movie&#8217; and dog walkers quickly fled the scene as people miles away spotted billowing smoke from the Heath.<\/p>\n<p>One dog walker, Marcus Lastra, told the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouthecho.co.uk\/news\/25378078.holt-heath-fire-dorset-residents-share-shock-eyewitness\/\">Bournemouth Echo <\/a>that he witnessed the fire start as smoke rising in the distance, before quickly growing into a huge fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lastra said: &#8216;Because it&#8217;s an open area, the flames spread very quickly in the wind. In those moments before the fire brigade got there, it had really taken hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;They started spraying parts of it, but then another section caught fire an it just spread and spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;There was mayhem on the main road because people were stopping to take pictures.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Chloe Mountford, from Northbourne, said that her husband first spotted it from their son&#8217;s bedroom window.<\/p>\n<p>She said: &#8216;We&#8217;re in Northbourne, so it&#8217;s a long way away too but we could still see the smoke from our house&#8217;s window.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Residents compared the scene to a &#8216;horror movie&#8217; and dog walkers quickly fled the scene as people miles away spotted billowing smoke from the Heath<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s on a hill, so you could see it straight away. Every time the breeze went past, you&#8217;d see it&#8217;s all showing and it&#8217;s all getting bigger.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Four hours later it was still about the same, with a lot of smoke.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Dorset &#038; Wiltshire Fire Service said: &#8216;We are currently dealing with a large fire at Holt Heath.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;This fire is spreading quickly and we strongly advise people to stay away from the area for their own safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;If you are a local resident you are advised to keep doors and windows closed.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Whilst the Newton Heath fire is thought to have been started deliberately, is not yet clear how the blaze at Holt Heath began.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>            <ad-slot position=\"smart_feed\"><\/ad-slot><\/p>\n<p>            <ad-slot position=\"after_article\"><\/ad-slot><\/p><\/div>\n<p> Buffy Mischke<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-14986393\/Homes-evacuated-major-incident-wildfire-spreads-Bournemouth.html?ns_mchannel=rss&#038;ito=1490&#038;ns_campaign=1490\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have YOU been affected? Email <span \n                data-original-string='QRL2OE2\/zaoJBpZbNaJizQ==7f4zEHSVeII7D8GTfDF3Trx2aGJE8uqa0QSRqfSvHGZNCw='\n                class='apbct-email-encoder'\n                title='This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.'>el<span class=\"apbct-blur\">**********<\/span>@<span class=\"apbct-blur\">***********<\/span>co.uk<\/span> By ELEANOR MANN, JUNIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:29 EDT, 9 August 2025 | Updated: 21:31 EDT, 9 August 2025 A major incident has been declared as 100 firefighters tackle a blaze ripping through Holt Heath in Bournemouth. Dorset &amp; Wiltshire Fire and Rescue are fighting to control the blaze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":868491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4565,1428],"tags":[10780,10304],"class_list":{"0":"post-868490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evacuated","8":"category-homes","9":"tag-evacuated","10":"tag-homes"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}