Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service stated last week that the incident at Holme Fen, situated near Peterborough, covers an expanse measuring roughly 60 football pitches and is deeply entrenched within the peat.

Formed in wetlands over thousands of years through the partial decay of organic plant matter, peat allows blazes to spread beneath the ground. Such fires are "notoriously difficult to extinguish", according to the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire on its website for The Great Fen.