A fire broke out in the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England, on the evening of April 28, as firefighters fought to save the forest from being burnt down.
However, this wasn’t any ordinary forest—this was the same forest that inspired A.A. Milne to create the fictional forest of Hundred Acre Woods from his well-known series, Winnie The Pooh, according to PEOPLE. Milne was inspired by the forest when he was living in Hartfield, which is located near the Ashdown Forest.
About 50 acres of the forest, which was the inspiration for Hundred Acre Wood, was ablaze on Sunday. —via BBC News…
Posted by NOVA l PBS on Monday, April 29, 2019
The news outlet reported that the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service received the first call regarding the fire at 9:30 p.m. local time on the evening of April 28, and responded immediately. The East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service released a statement, addressing the Ashdown Forest fire.
The incident commander of the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Andrew Gausden, said that they had received a large number of calls regarding the Ashdown Forest.
“We received numerous calls at 9:30 last night from members of the public and the police regarding a fire in the Ashdown Forest,” said Gausden. “The fire took hold quickly and was significant with approximately 15 hectares [50 acres] alight in a valley area behind the back of Duddleswell.”
According to the statement, the firefighters had outside help to put out the fire.
Firefighters worked to put out a fire that broke out in the woods that inspired author A.A. Milne’s fictional Hundred Acre Wood in his beloved Winnie the Pooh series.
Posted by People on Monday, April 29, 2019
“Firefighters from Crowborough, Mayfield, Heathfield, Uckfield, Forest Row, Lewes, and Seaford together with support from West Sussex and Kent Fire and Rescue attended a large fire in Ashdown Forest,” the statement read.
The firefighters used Land Rovers and all-terrain vehicles to transport their crew to the site of the fire and fought the fire using beaters and flex packs. The firefighters were aided by the Ashdown Forest Rangers and Sussex police, who used a drone to capture the overall land, which gave the firefighters the appropriate knowledge of where the fire was located.
The fire was put out around 10:00 a.m. on April 29, and the firefighters left the fire site at that time. However, the firefighters will be back later on during the day to do another inspection in case they missed anything.
The East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services do not know what started the fire, and are working together with the police as well as the forest rangers, and will be investigating the cause of the fire over the next few days, according to the statement. The fire department also said that they don’t think it was deliberately started.
The forest was home to nightjars, which were nocturnal birds, and Dartford Warblers, another type of bird, according to Chris Sutton, an Ashdown forest ranger, according to BBC.
“Reptiles like adders and lizards would not have been able to move fast enough,” said Sutton. “Large animals like foxes and deer would have been able to move out of the area quite quickly.”
However, according to him, not everything was destroyed, as the area grows relatively fast. He said that “within four weeks, we’ll have grass growing and in six months you probably won’t know too much has gone on here.”
In addition, the animals and insects would repopulate the area once the greeneries—where the fire struck—grow back, and it would be a new place, according to Sutton.
Back in February 2019, two fires were accidentally started by volunteers during a planned burning, according to BBC. According to the conservators of Ashdown Forest, a gust of wind blew, and the planned fire turned into a wildfire, as the forest was, at that time, uncharacteristically dry, even for that season.
The forest has also seen some deer hunting but it has since been given national and international protection due to its expanse of wildlife.
PEOPLE reported that the Forest was also seen in the biopic “Goodbye Christopher Robin” in 2017, which followed Milne’s life. In the film, he was seen with his son, Christopher Robin, during their regular trips to the forest as the author made up stories about Pooh.
