Thousands of trees “killed by cigarette butt fires”

A cigarette butt caused a forest fire that killed thousands of young trees.

Nests and charred wood have been discovered after flames ravaged thousands of trees at Harrow Hill, in the Forest of Dean, following a “short spell of heat” in May.

Forestry England community ranger Leoni Dawson said they were worried “this whole place is dead and gone”.

No deer or wild boars are believed to have been harmed due to a deer fence surrounding the area, but concerns remain about insects, reptiles, small mammals and bird nests.

Describing the site, Ms Dawson said: “You can see how dry it is, how brown and dead it is.”

She said their working hypothesis was that the fire, probably started by a cigarette butt, spread quickly because it was very dry after a few days of hot sun.

The trees in the area where the fire broke out were planted only eight years ago.

Because the trees were not yet leafy, sunlight was able to penetrate the ground and dry it “quickly”, which Ms Dawson said allowed the flames to spread more quickly.

“It's truly sad.

“Because of the time of year it happened, they were blushing. We fear this whole place is dead and gone.”

Forestry England does not have specific data on what was at the site, but charred nests “beautifully lined with feathers” were found.

“We hope they were just in the construction phase and there were no chicks or eggs inside,” Ms Dawson said.

“The birds themselves could have flown away, but it’s just what was contained in those nests that would worry us.”

'So dangerous'

To prevent a similar situation from happening again, Ms Dawson urged visitors to be responsible.

“Please don’t have barbecues, especially the small disposable barbecues, they are so dangerous,” she said.

“If you are going to smoke, take a small pouch with you that you can put your butts in so you can dispose of them properly when you get home.”

Anyone who noticed a wildfire was advised to get to safety before calling 999, with a What3words location particularly useful to fire crews, she added.

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