Another fire at Oak Tree Heath

Another fire at Oak Tree Heath highlights the urgent need for heathland fire prevention

Unfortunately, Oak Tree Heath has suffered another significant fire on Sunday 16th August, with flames spreading across a large area of the heathland.

The fire was in the same part of the site that was affected by a fire in 2022, which destroyed around a hectare of heathland. Since then, the heather had been recovering well and was beginning to thrive again. To see that recovering habitat badly damaged once more is devastating.

Thankfully, the fire service was able to get to the fire quickly and has carried out a huge amount of work to bring it under control. Their quick response was particularly important at Oak Tree Heath, where the fire could have spread towards the houses surrounding the site.

Three crews from Blidworth, Ashfield and Warsop remained at the site this morning, using a bowser to dampen down remaining hot spots and help prevent the fire from spreading again.
We are incredibly grateful to the firefighters who have been working tirelessly across Nottinghamshire during what has been an exceptionally difficult period, with fires affecting heathlands and other areas across the county.

A threat to wildlife and local communities

Heathland is a precious and increasingly threatened landscape, supporting a range of specialist plants and wildlife. It is also highly vulnerable to fire, particularly during prolonged periods of dry weather.

At Oak Tree Heath, we had a great start to the year with sightings of species including common lizards and green tiger beetles. Fires like this can destroy the vegetation these species rely on, as well as directly putting wildlife at risk.

The danger isn’t just to wildlife. At sites such as Oak Tree Heath, fires can spread quickly and pose a serious risk to nearby homes and communities. Making sure fire crews can access these sites quickly and safely is therefore an important part of protecting both people and nature.

What happens next?

This morning, our team has already been looking at what we can do to help reduce the risk of future fires at Oak Tree Heath.
We will be looking at options including creating or improving firebreaks across the heathland and making sure access routes are suitable for fire engines should they need to respond to another incident.

We will also be carrying out wildlife surveys to understand the impact of the fire and to monitor how the site recovers over time.

We believe education has an important role in preventing future fires. Through our fire prevention project, delivered in partnership with ATTFE, we are working with schools and communities to help reduce deliberate and accidental fires by helping people understand the importance of heathland, encouraging positive behaviour and building stronger links between young people, communities and emergency services.

We hope that by helping people understand and care about these special places, we can help protect them for the future.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. We’ve seen a number of fires affecting Sherwood’s heathlands and other landscapes this summer, causing damage to habitats that have taken years to restore.

We hope the current run of fires comes to an end soon. In the meantime, we will continue working with our partners and local communities to protect these special places, reduce the risk of fire and help people understand how they can enjoy Sherwood’s heathlands safely.

Our heathlands are precious, vulnerable and worth protecting.