ANOTHER fire raged through a swathe of Poole heathland on Tuesday May 5 – in the same area already devastated by a blaze a fortnight ago.

Conservationists say wildlife which escaped the earlier blaze at Talbot Heath perished in the latest fire.

Around 35 firefighters tackled the blaze on 5-6 hectares – around 50,000 square feet – of heathland near Winston Avenue on Tuesday afternoon. It is thought to have been started maliciously.

Dorset Fire Service watch manager Rob Williams: “We had to contend with 30,000 volt power lines only 25ft above our heads. That makes it very dangerous. It was windy as well.”

The blaze was around half as big as one that scorched an adjacent area of Talbot Heath on April 19.

Jezz Martin, nature conservation officer for the Borough of Poole, said: “This fire started where the other one finished. It destroyed the territory of a pair of Darftord warblers, one of the rarest birds in Britain, and there were lots of other reptiles. We found a few dead ones.”

Experts warned that wildlife could take more than a decade to recover from a fire at Corfe Mullen at the weekend. Almost half of the 5.8 hectares behind Corfe Hills School was left blackened on Sunday evening, at the same time as 150 square metres was set alight at Turbary Park Common.

Mr Martin said: “On that site there have been Dartford warblers, stonechats and nightjars breeding.”

Police arrested a 15-year-old Verwood girl and a 15-year-old Corfe Mullen boy in relation to the Corfe Hills incident, both of whom were released on police bail while enquiries continue.