Scene of devastation after wildfire breaks out at popular northumberland forest

A major response was sparked to deal with a 'significant' wildfire in the southern Kielder Forest. On Monday, May 19, firefighters arrived at the Bower area of Tarset, to find that

a huge blaze had broken out in the woodland area. Five fire appliances, four from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service and one from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, a team of wildfire

specialists, a drone team, and representatives of Forestry England, all attended the worrying incident. After receiving an early call, fire service personnel were able stop the fire from

spreading, before it was then fully extinguished. The cause of the wildfire at this time is undetermined. A spokesman said: "Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service responded yesterday

(20th May) to a wildfire in the Bower area of Tarset, in southern Kielder Forest. "Five fire appliances (4x NFRS, 1x Cumbria FRS), wildfire specialists, and our Drone Team worked

alongside Forestry England to contain the fire. Thanks to an early call, crews were able to stop it from spreading further. "The fire was fully extinguished and re-inspected this

morning. The cause is currently undetermined." The incident comes after the fire service issued several warnings that the risk of wildfires remains extremely high across the North East.

Robert Stacey, NFRS Wildfire Team Leader, previously said: "We have experienced an exceptionally dry spring and the current forecast is for warm and dry weather to continue. All

vegetation across Northumberland is extremely dry and could easily ignite. "Any fires that do start may quickly become large wildfires under the current conditions. We are also really

concerned that fires will also spread into the ground and become deep-seated. "These deep-seated fires are very challenging and require a lot of fire crews, water and time to fully

extinguish. We are asking everyone who lives, works and visits Northumberland at the moment to please be very cautious and to help us by preventing fires from starting. " JOIN OUR

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