Suffolk fire service warning after summer 2022 blazes

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service was called to more than 500 fires in the open, which included woodland, heaths, farmland and fields, during July and August 2022.

In comparison, there were only about 100 fires in the open in Suffolk during the same period in 2021. 

Suffolk was battered by scorching temperatures last summer, with figures revealing 2022 was the hottest year ever across East Anglia.

Over the course of several weeks in mid-summer, fire crews were called to fires across the county – including one in Knodishall, a blaze at Barham involving 45 acres of crop and a forest fire near Thetford.

Police have previously said they believe some of the fires, including a blaze at Ravenswood Park in Ipswich, were started intentionally.

A huge fire at Ravenswood Park in Ipswich (Image: Submitted)

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident for the first time in decades on July 19 last year in response to the dozens of calls it was receiving about fires.

Jon Lacey, chief fire officer for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Suffolk is a predominantly rural county, so fires in the open are far more common during prolonged periods of dry weather as demonstrated last year.

Suffolk's chief fire officer Jon Lacey (Image: Eddie Howland/Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service)

"The increase in demand was immensely challenging for our fire service, with many firefighters who have been with us for their whole working life describing working in the peak of the heatwave as being like nothing they’d ever experienced before.

"Although we will always be there for our communities when they need us most, we would ask that people help us by preventing incidents from happening in the first place, reducing the chance of anyone being seriously injured or even killed in a fire."