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Longmoor Camp fire - Paul (27th Jun 2023 - 12:43:01) Hi, 16 Hectares (160,000 metres) of Forest and Scrubland lost at Longmoor Camp. Since the 16th June the blaze has taken place. There has been M.O.D. Military explosive charges deployed during an exercise. Is this wise for the time of year, the environment, and animal habitat lost?

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - ian (27th Jun 2023 - 13:39:04) Yes Paul, it is wise and required. The world is becoming more unsettled and as we move forward the military threats to our Country are going to increase. Our forces are comparatively small so they need to be trained to maintain their position as one of the best in the world

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - er (27th Jun 2023 - 14:03:48) Asterix in Britain comes to mind for some reason!

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Paul (27th Jun 2023 - 14:51:08) Hi, I understand the need for military training, used to serve myself. Why not have one dedicated area in the South for operations i.e. Salisbury Plain? The Blaze at Longmoor Camp area is devastating. The destruction of 16 hectares, for one area of MOD use, is not sustainable. They have 160,000 hectares for training purposes (according to Government website) in England and Wales.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Paul (27th Jun 2023 - 15:31:50) Hi, Also a shout-out to well done Liphook Fire Brigade, who have worked tirelessly night and day on the incident.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Lee (27th Jun 2023 - 17:06:23) Paul, you obviously don’t know what caused the fire and who did it. You do say some odd things at times.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Paul (27th Jun 2023 - 17:30:41) Lee, A full official investigation of the Blaze will take place in the fullest of time, by the interested parties. Environmental damage, and to wildlife, can remain permanent to the area.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Nicky (27th Jun 2023 - 21:03:16) This is the latest news I can find regarding the cause of the fire. Probably not the brightest decision given our recent dry spell. Army explosives training caused forest fire at Hampshire camp, says MoD bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-66029825

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Dave (28th Jun 2023 - 07:55:44) This land has been in military use since the 1860’s. Whilst environmental concerns are important in some areas they should not be the primary concern, there are other issues that matter as well and as previously posted, national defence is one of those. Nature tends to recover from fire quite quickly ( in some parts of the world it is a natural occurrence that actually balances the natural way of things. In this case, get a grip, no-one deliberately set out to cause harm, this is military training land and it will recover

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Joe (28th Jun 2023 - 08:29:55) Fire can spread very quickly this time of year and there are protected areas for the wildlife and habitat at longmoor. I do not think you would be quite so dismissive if the the fire had spread further to endanger people or houses in the area. Perhaps these events can be better planned. The cost to our emergency services would have been enormous.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Ann (28th Jun 2023 - 08:33:53) You don`t stop firing just because it`s hot and tinder dry - wars carry on in all weathers.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Hmmm (28th Jun 2023 - 10:10:19) OMG Ann - we're at war???!!!! No-one told me! Perhaps TRAINING with LIVE rounds is, well pretty dumb in a month long dry spell. Then again, designating military areas as SSSIs and other protected habitats is also pretty dumb given what is done there. Oh yes, we have a rare beetle here - oops, just blew it up! Do military fire fighters attend live fire exercises (or even still exist) - perhaps they should? Or at least have a bloke with a bucket of water to hand. Bear in mind that depending on where exactly the fire was, multiple residences, a major road and 2 petrol stations were well within 1-2 miles of the blaze.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Joe (28th Jun 2023 - 10:16:23) Apparently this was not a routine training exercise it was something they do once every ten years so perhaps they can plan this event for a less dry time of year.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - er (28th Jun 2023 - 10:38:17) They need to train in hot weather too, just in case some cunning enemy decides to start trouble in the summertime, perhaps a heatwave is the perfect time! I guess wherever you train there will be people complaining about fires and lesser spotted long legged centipedes, yes it's terrible but there are operational reasons, I'm not sure those complaining will have fully understood them all! It may sound good on paper to send all our troops down to Dartmoor or up to god knows where, but I reckon these bases are spread out for a reason, the A3 and its historic proximity to both London and Portsmouth being the biggest one, governments like their troops within easy reach, the army were training around here long before most of our houses were built, so if anyone is killing the newts, maybe it's us and all our new housing estates, how many acres have we permanently destroyed, don't even start me on pesticides to grow our vegetables, wiping out most of our insects so vegetarians can eat😂

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - gr (28th Jun 2023 - 11:31:20) Reading comments hmmm. when did Longmoor camp have a fire before back when the steam train ran through ! how many can remember that Plan for exercises when not a dry spell ???? this is england planning anything weather dependent is risky . It is a military training zone things go bang Accidents happen They are training Ukranian troops - so I guess train them when Ukraine not at war with Russia?

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Joe (28th Jun 2023 - 12:15:19) How do you know who they are training? I think it is more for new weapons testing if it is once every ten years. Ten years ago there was no war in Ukraine. It was more than just stray bullets.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Lee (28th Jun 2023 - 12:58:50) Jo, gr is correct in what he is saying.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Grape (28th Jun 2023 - 16:11:25) Hmmm Military zones are now the safer natural areas, even if occasionally we experience a disaster. If zones are released it'll likely be for "development" or agriculture - nature will suffer more. Military staff are trained for fire safety. How they find the time to do this in between Diversity & Equality training sessions, I can't think! If the bush fire was as a result of negligence on the part of the military, then yes, I think the military should carry some of the costs.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - passfield resident (28th Jun 2023 - 20:37:24) The military have to train with exposive devices in all conditions, so there is bound to be a fire risk in the Summer. They are training troops from "a partner" at the moment.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - Bob on (30th Jun 2023 - 13:01:23) I think we’re all missing the elephant in the room here. Yes the military have to train and yes risks have to be taken. However those risks should be mitigated as best as they can. Many , many fire appliances were involved in tackling this blaze. Crews came from all over the local area and as far afield as the New Forest area as well as our neighbouring Surrey brigade. All these crews needed relieving at some point which meant even more appliances being tied up. The knock on effect of this is that cover in our immediate area and other parts of the county was stretched to the limit. The common land will grow back eventually as it always does but that’s not the point. Thankfully no other major incidents occurred at the same time. The MOD needs to take more care and not have a blasé attitude to their actions.

Re: Longmoor Camp fire - John (30th Jun 2023 - 14:18:29) The MOD Training areas routinely have Pyrotechnic bans in place on its training areas, I don't know definitively but I would be surprised if one is not in place on the local training areas. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/43341/dte_info_leaflet_homecounties.pdf This leaflet has contact details and some of the reasoning of the whys and hows of its training.

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