GB News came to a halt to deliver a crucial update on the wildfires ripping through parts of Suffolk. The breaking news banner appeared on the screen, revealing Britain is “on alert” for further wildfires. Although the fire in Suffolk is “stabilising”, GB News correspondent Sam Francis warned it is far from over and declared it a “major incident”.
Speaking to presenters Stephen Dixon and Dawn Neesom, he continued: “The blaze has been continuing throughout the night. Firefighters, at least 100 personnel on the scene tackling the blaze and it is still a major incident. We do have a better sense of the scale of the blaze. It broke out on Wednesday evening and has now been burning for some 48 hours plus, and has affected a huge area of land on the Suffolk coastline.”
He added: “Some 150 hectares have already burned through and that number is expected to continue growing, despite the fact they say it is stabilising. Efforts are still continuing to put a stop to that fire burning.”
Putting that 150 hectares into perspective, Sam revealed that is the equivalent of 210 football pitches worth of land that has already burned.
Turning to look behind him, Sam gazed down the Suffolk coastline, taking in the landscape that had been burning for the past few days as the flames crept towards the cliff tops and across the heathland.
He went on: “From here, you get a real sense of the landscape involved where these firefighters have been working through the night. More than 100 have been joined by helicopters dropping sea water onto the flames in an attempt to dampen them.”
In other attempts to put out the blaze, crews have also filled trenches in the ground with water to stop the fire from moving any further.
Sam said: “In an incident like this, there is a significant impact to those who live and stay locally in the area,” adding that more than 100 people have been evacuated and more than 200 were moved from a holiday camp.
The programme then shared footage of an interview with Paul Ashton, the deputy leader of East Suffolk Council, who shared how people reacted after being evacuated to the local town hall.
He remarked: “Generally speaking, they’re quite calm. They are a little bit worried about their cars. In some cases, they own static caravans and have a reasonable amount of money invested in those. They’ve got concern for their property.
“They’re all safe and I think they’re hugely thankful for the people here and all they’ve done for them. Every time we have a meeting or an update on progress, they all give a round of applause to local people. It’s really impressive.”
Sam concluded: “The sense this morning is one of cautious optimism but there are still concerns from the fire service that despite a stabilising picture now, there are efforts to contain the fire from spreading any further.
“Those who have been evacuated are still waiting for the all-clear.”
