Home fires :(

[dizzojay]

Once again, the heathland near my home is burning.  This is a regular occurrence here in West Surrey because there is so much heathland all around us (our corner of Surrey is called Surrey Heath; the clue's in the name!)

However, this one's a biggie.  Fires of this magnitude come along once every five years or so.  It's on an area called Chobham Common which is about 4 miles from where I live.  It's been burning for four days so far, and over half the available fire crews in Surrey are fighting it. 

A lot of houses that border that part of the common have been temporarily evacuated, and many local towns and villages, including ours, have a pall of smoke over them.

The fire crews are up there fighting a massive fire in 33 degree heat, in full fire gear, and breathing apparatus.  I admire firefighters at the best of times, but at times like this, I absolutely bow down to them.

In keeping with the positivity that GISH week brings, I donated a bag of fruit juice cartons and muesli bars to the local fire station last night to help keep the guys attending the fires fed and hydrated.  It looks like lots of other people had the same idea because the guy I spoke to was really grateful and said they'd just sent eight car loads of provisions up to the common, and are putting at least four more together!

No-one knows how this fire started, but they almost invariably start due to human carelessness.  We await to see what the outcome is once this is all over and the investigations can begin.  My heart breaks for all the wildlife on the common.  Our heathland is one of the few places in the UK that is rich in hedgehog populations, and those poor little things are ground dwelling, and they're not quick.

This is what I saw when I was driving home from work on Friday:



And this photo is taken from a local golf club, it appeared on a local news website.



I have faith the fire crews will get this under control in the next few days, although the damping down will go on for a couple of weeks yet.

I just hope that the cost to our local nature is not too high. :(

Comments

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness! Be safe and I hope the firefighters get it out quickly!

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Thank you. The firefighters did their usual sterling work and had it under control within about four days. They were helped by the fact that the weather cooled and we had some rain a couple of days ago too.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

*huggles* I hope for everyone's sake they get that fire quickly under control! Be safe!!

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

It's all out now. There is just a minimal presence of firefighters on the common to ensure no further breakouts. This was apparently the biggest fire in Surrey Heath for seven years, but thanks to them, no-one was hurt or made homeless.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

YAY!! That's good & may nothing break out! WOW!! That's GREAT!! I'm glad no one was hurt or homeless from the fires!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

So little rain, everywhere's dry as bone and heathland, like you say, is prone to fires at the best of times. What a nice gesture for your firefighters, let's hope they can get it under control soon. And take care with your breathing too - you should probably stay indoors as much as possible!

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Everything's out now, I think there is a minimal contingent of firefighters up their keeping an eye out for localised breakouts, but the cooler weather and rain has helped enormously.

Thankfully, the air cleared the day after I wrote this, the wind must have changed direction or something!

[jdl71.livejournal.com]

Stay safe

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Thank you - we all did!

[fufaraw]

Yes, indeed, stay safe. Wildfires are as frightening and devastating as earthquakes, floods, storms, or landslides. Feeling the reality of how helpless we really are in the face of the elements is never ever pleasant. And it's a wonderful community who can work together to save people and restore some sort of order to life. I hope those fires are contained, and casualties are low.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Thank you. The fire is all out now, and no-one was hurt or made homeless. I don't think anyone knows what the wildlife toll is yet. Hopefully not too high :(

[kattrip033.livejournal.com]

*hugs* stay safe

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Thank you - we're all fine, no-one was hurt in the fire.

[kattrip033.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. That's good to hear.

[jillmariej.livejournal.com]

that looks just awful. I'm so sorry. I hope you all stay safe.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

We all did, thank you. Always so sad to see something like this - I can't help thinking about all the little animals :(

[supernutjapan.livejournal.com]

Wow... scary fire and poor little hedgehogs... I hope it gets quenched soon :(

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

It's all out now, and thankfully not one person was hurt or made homeless. What the toll is on the wildlife, we don't know yet. Hopefully not too high. :(

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely horrible. I hate wildfires. So scary. Surprisingly, we haven't had any big fires yet this season. Of course, August is usually the bigger month for those, so we'll see. **knock on wood** we won't have anything major this year. We still have an area that is recovering from a major fire 4 years ago. It's a recreational area, which has yet to completely open back up to the public because it just made certain areas unsafe. Sad. So Sad. I hope they are able to get your fire under control sooner, rather than later.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Thank you - the fire is all out now and everyone, including the firefighters, is safe. I hope you manage to go without any fires this years - they're just horrible, scary things to have to experience. This one was the biggest seen in this area for seven years, and covered around 500 acres at it's height. The early indications are that it was started by a cigarette. Ho,estly, human carelessness knows no limit :(

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

That is just horrible. All that beautiful land destroyed by someone's carlessness and laziness of not distinguishing their cigarette properly. Behavior like that just really irritates me.

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

It's so scary, I hoe it's all died down now 😢

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

It's all out now, thanks, and everyone - including the firefighters - is safe and well. The cooler weather and rain have helped. The poor common is devastated though, and I can't bear to think about the cost to wildlife :(

[casey28.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about the fires. It's been really bad in the area where I live. I see from the comments that it's been put out now... that's a relief. *hugs*