1 June 2011

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

THE director of the Ashdown Forest centre, Hew Prendergast, has condemned the “stupidity” of visitors who set a 13 acre area of the forest alight after their barbecue blazed out of control.

It took 50 firefighters all night to tackle the fire which was whipped up by strong winds and threatened to set light to nearby houses.

Weeks of sunshine had left the area tinder-dry and the fire crews who found a barbecue, food and alcohol at the scene said the culprits “who had left the scene pretty quickly” had been lucky to escape unhurt.

However the blackened heath land they left in their wake will take a long time to recover.

“Fires like this are incredibly destructive of wildlife and their habitat. This was a random fire which was completely out of control and anything could have happened, which is very worrying,” said Mr Prendergast.

* Fire crews also attended a fire at Mount Noddy which started after someone threw a disposable barbecue into a bin which subsequently caught alight. Firefighters said disposable barbecues needed to be out and fully cold before they were thrown away.