Among the scorched landscape, teams have been rescuing as much of the wildlife as they can, following heath fires that were deliberately started in Purbeck and Wimborne in Dorset.
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident on Saturday 9th August 2025 as hundreds of firefighters from across Dorset and other counties, including crews from Swanage and Wareham tackled two large fires – one at Newton Heath near Studland and a second larger blaze at Holt Heath near Wimborne.
Holt Heath, part of the National Trust’s Kingston Lacey Estate near Wimborne was devastated by the fire
Fire destroyed large areas of heathland
The fires, which destroyed 69 hectares of heathland at Holt Heath and 25 hectares at Newton Heath, are now extinguished although the areas are still being monitored.
The heathland is home to many rare birds including nightjars, woodlarks and Dartford warblers, as well as reptiles like sand lizards, slow worms, smooth snakes, and adders.
While most birds were able to fly away and escape the flames, reptiles could only slither away from the heat and hope the fire missed their hiding spots.
In an effort to minimise the environmental damage, the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) put out a call to its volunteers to undertake a mission to collect any surviving reptiles from the burnt earth, and release them into nearby unaffected heathland.
Once the fire service deemed it safe, supported by the Bird and Recreation Initiative, Dorset Heaths Partnership, and the National Trust, a team was assembled to rescue what they could at Holt Heath.
A common lizard is a lucky survivor
It was miraculous that any wildlife survived at Holt Heath
“Really heart wrenching”
Six volunteers turned up at Holt Heath on Tuesday 12th August 2025 at 7 am – early enough to get to work before the sun got too hot. They spread out and walked the heath in a line.
One volunteer was Emma Finlinson, a National Trust ranger who lives in Swanage. She said:
“First stepping onto the heath was quite a shock – a stark lunar landscape that you couldn’t really understand the scale of until you got there. I think the firefighter said it was the equivalent of 69 Twickenham stadiums.
“At first, we were only crossing completely scorched land and only finding the burnt and the dead reptiles, which was really heart wrenching.
“However, when we found the first live reptiles, hiding out in the small pockets of less burnt land, it was a really joyous moment, and soon we found many more.
“Managing to rescue and then release them onto safe land outside of the burn site was a moment of comfort and optimism in an otherwise desolate situation for the environment and the creatures living there.
“Being able to do something positive, even if only something small in comparison to the devastation of the fire, feels really worthwhile.”
The rescue mission was led by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust which has the experience and knowledge to undertake such tasks.
Two of the volunteers had licences to handle the rarest of the reptiles, and the right equipment to capture adders, which are of course, venomous.
National Trust ranger Emma Finlinson (on the right in red) was pleased a very rare sand lizard was found alive
What the team found
Dead
- 28 slow worms
- 2 smooth snakes
- 5 common lizards
- 1 linnet bird
- 1 grass snake
- 1 adder
Live
- 1 grass snake
- 1 sand lizard
- 25 common lizards
- 2 slow worms
- 1 adder
A grass snake was able to be safely relocated
Fortunately the team found some reptiles alive
“It was tragic”
Emma added:
“Finding a live female sand lizard was particularly rewarding as they are the UK’s rarest lizard. But it was tragic to find two dead smooth snakes as they are Britain’s rarest reptile – they live on sandy heathland, and Dorset is the main stronghold.
“It was also terrible to see how some of the slow worms had tried to burrow to escape the fire but were killed in the process.
“But it was great that all the firefighters were super interested in the reptiles and asking loads of questions. We all learned lots that day.”
At Holt Heath, fortunately the fire on the right, did not spread across the road to the heathland on the left
Devastating environmental, social, and economic impact
According to Dorset Heaths, from January to July 2025, it has already recorded 55 incidents of fire, affecting 27 heaths, representing a 41 percent increase in fire incidents compared to 2024.
This has caused a devastating environmental, social, and economic impact on the local heathland and as a result, it wants to see steps taken to remove some of the root causes of wildfire.
Sophie Clegg, Dorset Heaths monitoring warden said:
“In comparison to last year, there have not only been more heath fires attended by the fire service, but the impact of fire has been more widespread, with nearly twice as many heaths affected by fire.
“The conditions in 2025 have also caused many of the fires to become much bigger, resulting in nearly eight times more heathland habitat burned in comparison to this time last year.”
Newton Heath was surveyed by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust but very few reptiles were thought to be alive so a full-scale rescue was not undertaken
“Deliberate acts”
A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said:
We are extremely grateful for the support and all the kind messages we have received. Our thanks go to everyone supporting our firefighters at home, and to the many employers who are allowing on-call firefighters to be part of this emergency response.
“We believe the recent spate of wildfires to be deliberate acts, and we would urge anyone with any information to contact the police or Crimestoppers.”
Watch the release of the rescued reptiles
Emma’s film of Holt Heath after the fire
Further information
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue reports about the Newton Heath and Holt Heath incidents
