The two fires have now been linked together
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Approximately 40 firefighters continue to battle two open fires in Surrey. On Saturday (April 23), two separate fires broke out at Ash Ranges and Dolleys Hill Park.
Firefighters have contained both fires, but are expected to remain at the scene for some time. Crews remain "concerned" about the hotspots, and will therefore be at the site for at least another 24 hours.
The two fires are thought to be linked, with the second fire at Dolleys Hill Park believed to be started by an ember from the earlier fire. An area, believed to be the ignition point, has been located.
READ MORE: Fires at Ash Ranges and Dolleys Hill Park in Pirbright continue to burn for a second day
Matt Oakley, fire investigation and safeguarding officer for Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and national national wildfire tactical advisor, said: "The area burnt hasn't changed significantly from yesterday. Crews have managed to contain the fire between the military tracks round the edge of Pirbright Common. We will be there some considerable time. The reason being is the area burnt is quite large and there are a lot of hotspots that are deep-seated underground.
"The reason we're concerned about the hotspots is that when the wind dies down it's fine - but if the wind picks up, it draws those fires to the surface and they can surface on other parts of the common that aren't burnt. So we'll be in attendance for the next 24 hours at least to ensure that the fire spread doesn't accelerate again.
"The second fire that happened, we think, is a by-product of the first one. Because the fire was so large you have what's called spotting, which is where hot embers from an existing fire travel through the air and, when they land, they cause an ignition further ahead, which is why we had two seats of fire.
"Initially it went through as two separate incidents because they were in quite different geographical locations. We very quickly worked out that they were the same incident and we merged all the resources into one command unit from one location, which logistically made it a lot easier."
The cause of the fire is not known at this stage. Investigations will not take place until the operational phase of tackling the blaze is complete.
Matt Oakley added: "We've currently got 40 personnel there at the moment. The crews have worked incredibly hard this weekend. I was up there earlier getting some welfare resources for them so they’re all being fed and watered.
"We're looking at doing a changeover to the evening crew, at which point we'll look to scale back our attendance overnight and then we'll do a review tomorrow morning at 9am."
For live updates on the fires, see our blog here.
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