Overview

• Ground crews and national resilience teams extended firebreaks and deployed water carriers to limit the blaze to roughly 70 hectares after four days of sustained operations.
• More than 100 firefighters from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service and mutual aid partners continue monitoring hotspots and managing hard road closures until Friday, August 15.
• National tactical advisers assessed aerial water drops as unlikely to be effective at this stage, keeping the focus on ground-based suppression tactics.
• National Trust and Natural England have created additional firebreaks ahead of forecast hot weather while voluntary agencies have rescued wildlife, including a rare female sand lizard.
• Dorset Police have launched an inquiry into suspected deliberate ignitions in this and recent heathland fires and are urging anyone with information to come forward.