‘Heartbreak’ as fire tears through nature reserve near homes in Merseyside

Residents ‘worried’ as blaze spreads near houses

A 200m by 100m area was affected (Alamy Stock Photo)

A fire has torn through woodlands near homes in Heswall, Merseyside.

Four fire engines attended the blaze at the Heswall Dales Nature Reserve, which emergency services were alerted to at around 9.31pm on Thursday 4 August.

An area of around 200 metres is thought to have been affected and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service say the fire has now been suppressed.

Residents in the local area told the Liverpool Echo they were “worried” due to how close the blaze is to some homes and were “heartbroken” to see the area up in flames.

In a statement, the fire service said: “Crews were alerted at 9.31pm and on scene shortly after. Four fire engines are in attendance.

On arrival and after locating a safe access point, crews found an area of approximately one to two miles of grass affected by fire.“

In an update, they said a “reassessment of the fire ground was carried out and found approximately 200m by 100m was affected by fire.”

They added that the fire has since been suppressed and fire services are dampening down the area.

The blaze comes after dozens of homes were badly damaged by wildfires which spread to residential areas across the UK on the hottest day in the country’s history last month.