Firefighters tackling Suffolk wildfire making ‘good progress’

Firefighters tackling a large wildfire near a nuclear power station in Suffolk said they are making “good progress” as engines were brought in from London to help extinguish the blaze.Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident after being called to reports of a fire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday.Late on Thursday afternoon, the service said the area affected had grown to 150 hectares – the equivalent of approximately 210 football pitches – with 18 fire engines and more than 100 firefighters at the scene.Firefighters tackle a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston (Joe Giddens/PA)PA WireAuthorities in Suffolk said on Thursday evening that they expected crews would be battling the blaze for the next two days, with the fire service confident they are “moving in the right direction”.A statement from the fire service said: “Although the fire is dynamic, it remains stable and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service is making good progress and confident that tactics are working and moving in the right direction.”The fire is a few miles away from nuclear power station Sizewell B and the construction site for new power station Sizewell C.Speaking to reporters on Thursday evening, Freddie Gulliver, from the Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Unit, said there is currently no concern of the fire spreading towards Sizewell B.Around 50 people have been evacuated from their homes and a local holiday park to Westleton, whose village hall now serves as a rest centre.A major incident has been declared at a large heathland blaze (Joe Giddens/PA)PA WireMr Gulliver told journalists that the local community has been “absolutely fantastic” in opening up their homes, adding only a few people will need to stay in the rest centre on Thursday night.He praised the local people that run the village hall, adding: “They’ve been absolutely brilliant at looking after everyone, so I want to stress my thanks and gratitude to everyone involved.”Speaking to residents, he said the fire service is “confident” it is tackling the fire, including by filling trenches with water and dropping water from helicopters.Read MorePrime Minister Andy Burnham said the fire service will have “all of the support” they need in tackling the blaze.A helicopter flies water collected from the sea to drop on the wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston, close to the Sizewell B nuclear power station (Joe Giddens/PA)PA WireOn Thursday afternoon, an EDF spokesperson said the fire was “not affecting operations at Sizewell B power station”.The energy supplier said it was “closely monitoring the situation” and it is understood Sizewell B has an emergency plan in place that covers a range of scenarios including a fire on site.Suffolk County Council said Cliff House Holiday Park, containing some 200 caravans, had been completely evacuated as a precaution.Lisa Gordon, 54, on holiday with her husband and dog in their touring caravan, evacuated from Cliff House Holiday Park on Wednesday night.Mrs Gordon told the Press Association: “Just looking at the pictures… it’s quite worrying how close it is to the park now.“It’s a car, it’s a caravan, and it’s insured but at the end of the day it’s a lot of hassle, isn’t it?“They are things that can be replaced. But it’s not the relaxing day we thought we’d be having.”She said that when she and her husband were told to leave the holiday park, they could see smoke behind the trees.Mrs Gordon added: “It was only as we walked to reception to meet the police that all of a sudden it kind of hit us.Smoke rises from a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston (Joe Giddens/PA)PA Wire“So where we were it didn’t seem too bad at all. We weren’t really panicking at all.“But as we got to sort of the reception and the entrance, then the smoke hit and we had to drive with the police through quite a lot of smoke.”The fire service posted a video of damage caused by the blaze, which has spread to parts of RSPB Minsmere nature reserve, showing blackened trees and scorched ground.Power has also been cut to three postcodes across Suffolk, according to an update on Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service’s website on Thursday afternoon.The power cut currently affects 116 customers and teams from UK Power Networks (UKPN) are working to fix the issue.UKPN has not yet confirmed when the power will be back on, the fire service added.Smoke rises from a wildfire at Dunwich Heath (Joe Giddens/PA)PA WireTemperatures soared across parts of the UK on Wednesday, reaching into the 30s in some places.Green Party leader Zack Polanski called for Mr Burnham to host an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the outbreak of wildfires in Britain, including in Suffolk.According to the Met Office, Suffolk has only received 2% of its average monthly rainfall for July so far.The forecaster said on Thursday afternoon other counties have recorded as low as 1% or 0% of average rainfall for July, with Friday being the last day of the month.