A huge wildfire ripped through a historic British national park, with flames towering over the fire engines valiantly trying to put them out.
The blaze broke out in Beaulieu, part of the picturesque New Forest in Hampshire, on Saturday evening.
The dramatic fire caused thick black smoke to pour into the sky, throwing up soot and debris.
A video shows the dramatic scale of the gorse fire with bright orange flames visible from miles away on July 12.
It took firefighters two hours to dampen down the fire, which covered a patch of gorse measuring around 60 metres by 40 metres.
The fire took place close to the Royal Oak pub and one of their staff was the first to call it in at around 9.30pm last night.
Assistant manager James Winters described the scene as ‘quite a blaze’.
He said: ‘There was black smoke and I thought maybe a car had been burnt out and it had caught stuff around it.
The blaze broke out in Beaulieu, part of the picturesque New Forest in Hampshire, on Saturday evening
A sign warns hikers not to use BBQs or light fires due to an abundance of highly flammable gorse bushes in the area – although soaring temperatures may be to blame in this instance following the UK’s third heatwave this year
The dramatic fire caused thick black smoke to pour into the sky, throwing up soot and debris
‘It was one of our guys that called the fire brigade as he was leaving at about 9.30pm. He was just driving out to go home when he saw it.
‘I think they got hold of it quite quickly and it was out before midnight, about 11.20pm. They did a really good job.’
A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) said a specialist vehicle was used to help tackle the blaze.
They said: ‘On-call firefighters tackled a large gorse bush fire on Exbury Road in Beaulieu last night.
‘Crews from Hardley and Beaulieu were alerted shortly before 10pm and were supported by specialist water carrier vehicle from Eastleigh.
‘Hose reels and jets were used to extinguish the blaze which affected a 60m by 40m area of gorse.
‘Firefighters dampened down the scene and arranged a reinspection in the morning before handing the incident over to Forestry England teams.
‘HIWFRS returned to station at around midnight.’
The UK has seen a large number of wildfires over the past week as the country has been engulfed by the third heatwave this year with temperatures soaring above 30C.
