Fire crews return to woodland as blaze reignites

Crews have returned to the scene of a forest fire for a second day after it reignited.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service staff travelled to a remote area close to Barton Mills, near Mildenhall, at 05:00 BST for an inspection after Monday's incident.

They saw a large plume of smoke from a distance and, upon arrival, found 150m (492ft) of forest undergrowth well alight.

Six pumps have been called back to the scene, where eight fire crews and a tanker from RAF Lakenheath tackled the blaze on Monday.

Jon Lacey, the chief fire officer for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, told BBC Radio Suffolk he expected the crews to be "in and out" of the forest over the next few days.

"We'll keep vigilant, we'll keep an eye on the weather... we'll be checking how dry the woodland is, making sure fires don't restart after they've been extinguished and we regularly go back to check them," he said.

Mr Lacey said the fire service had seen a busier start to this year's wildfire season, likely due to previous wet weather causing foliage and grass to grow before recent warm weather dried it all out.

The cause of the fire is unknown at the moment, as Mr Lacey said it could be hard to determine where wildfires begin, but investigations were ongoing.

He urged people to remain cautious: "Please be careful not to have barbecues, open fires, or discard your cigarettes or matches anywhere where there might be forest, woodland or grass."

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