AN ANDOVER fire chief has blasted an “idiotic” group whose ill-placed campfire came “just seconds” from becoming a major and possibly fatal blaze.

Red Watch crew manager James Street, says the small fire, which was lit in a wooded area of Watermills Park on Sunday 18 June, was less than a minute away from erupting into a full-blown forest fire.

According to the 43-year-old, the recent dry weather could have allowed the fire to spread quickly and may have led to evacuations of nearby homes.

He also claims that rising smoke could have drifted across the nearby A303 and led to disruption or even closure.

He said: “This was just sixty seconds away from becoming a major incident.

“People see a small fire and it doesn’t look significant, but we could have been talking fatalities.

“It’s very easy to say ‘well it didn’t’, but if it wasn’t for us being able to find the fire quickly then we could have been looking at a bad situation.

“We would have likely had to evacuate nearby houses and also search the area for people,” Mr Street added.

“We would have had to call in five pumps, a water carrier and a Land Rover and that’s just initially.

“If the smoke drifted across the A303 the police would have to have been involved as well.”

Mr Street says the fire service was called to the scene by a concerned dog walker shortly before 6pm.

When the crew of five arrived, the fire had already reached three foot in height.

Mr Street says the heat from the flames would have travelled an extra six feet, creating a high risk of igniting the overhanging tree branches.

He said: “In this weather all of the leaf litter would have been dry, all of the branches would have been dry and all the wood would be dry.

“When the fire gets up into the treeline the term we use is it ‘crowns’, which means it spread across. Once it does that it’s hard to control.”

Luckily, the crew managed to extinguish the fire quickly using two buckets of water.

However Mr Street says those responsible should think about their actions.

Asked his opinion on the incident, he said: “It was stupid. Don’t start fires like this.

"You just don’t know how much damage you could cause.”

Watermills Park is a Test Valley Borough Council-operated park, situated in the southern part of Andover.

It includes a number of wooded areas, as well as a basketball court and play area, and is adjacent to Rooksbury Mill Nature Reserve – also run by the council.

Community and leisure portfolio holder, councillor Tony Ward said: “We were disappointed to hear about the fire that broke out in Watermills Park on Sunday.

"We are working with the emergency services to monitor the site and we support Hampshire Fire and Rescue in its investigation if required.

"Lighting fires, particularly in this dry heat, is dangerous to wildlife, forestry and anyone close by.”