This morning I read the following report on the Twitter feed of Mark Hewitt, Cornwall’s Chief Fire Officer:
As a result of repeat deliberate fires across Bodmin moor and the wider area to Davidstow, @DC_Police & @CornwallFRS are actively patrolling the area. Should you know of, or see anyone starting deliberate fires please contact @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 https://t.co/9Cfkki1C3s
— Mark Hewitt 〓〓 (@CornwallCFO) April 12, 2020
Hence this afternoon Kasia and I decided to use our coronavirus constrained exercise period to investigate. Here’s our initial photo report:
On our way back to base we spotted these lambs in a field near the Moor. Please note that according to Julie Dowton of the Bodmin Moor Commoners this spring’s lambs haven’t been moved out onto the Moor just yet, and “no livestock were harmed” by the fire. However the High Moor is a site of special scientific interest, and all sorts of wildlife will undoubtedly have been terminally harmed.
Much more to come later, including a video we hope.
P.S. I just had a detailed description of the fire across 300 acres of Bodmin Moor from Rich Gibbons, Station Manager for the Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service. There are now lots more words to follow, but first some moving pictures from the middle of the Moor.
The only way to put the blaze out was to walk across the Moor to the fire front and use a traditional beater.
As a result of repeat deliberate fires across #Bodmin moor and the wider area to #Davidstow, @DC_Police & @CornwallFRS are actively patrolling the area.
Should you know of, or see anyone starting deliberate fires please contact @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111. pic.twitter.com/weENLyNOW2
— Wadebridge Community Fire Station (@WadebridgeCFRS) April 12, 2020
Something I hadn’t realised before is that soon after the fire on the Moor was ultimately extinguished another fire started in a building on Davidstow Airfield. Hence the confident use of the word “arson” in the title of this article. Here’s the site of the second attack:
Watch this space!
Yet another fire, this time near Roughtor:
A drone’s eye view of the fire burning on Bodmin Moor: