Teenage arsonists are blamed for heath fire that raged for 12 hours
A fire broke out on Upton Heath in Poole, Dorset, yesterday sending flames shooting 40 feet into the air.
Four people were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation and 40 more evacuated from their homes.
Firefighters battled the flames for almost 12 hours. Today crews continued to damp down the heath.
Police are appealing for information about what they believe was an arson attack. Two teenagers were reported fleeing the scene shortly after the blaze started.
Leonard Stack, 62, who lives nearby, said: "It is the biggest fire I have seen here in more than 20 years. The sky just filled with smoke. I was out cycling at the time it started and nearly choked on the smoke.
"All of a sudden you couldn't see the sun or the trees any more." Pc John Snelling, of Dorset police, said the fire would have a devastating impact on the areas's wildlife.
"It couldn't have come at a worse time in terms of the wildlife because of all the ground-nesting birds," he said.
"This fire will put the heath back 25 years, it will take that long to recover."
