Tragedy has struck the real-life inspiration behind one of the most beloved locations in Disney history. Ashdown Forest in Sussex County, United Kingdom caught fire on Sunday, with about 14 acres of the woods being engulfed in flames, according to CBS News. While you may not be familiar with that name, Ashdown Forest was the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood, home to Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and many other beloved characters.
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Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne lived in the immediate area near the town of Hartfield when he came up with the characters and the Hundred Acre Wood in the 1920s. The characters were eventually used for several movies and TV projects at Disney, where their reach grew even further.
“It’s unusual to have a fire of this size at night. This seems to have caught hold before people noticed the fire,” a fire service spokesperson told BBC. “The undergrowth was very dry in the forest, despite the recent rain, and the fire caught quite quickly. We had numerous calls, including from the police who have a training centre nearby.”
The spokesperson also indicated that the fire wasn’t started deliberately. However, no matter how the fire began, the event did prove dangerous to many animals in the area.
“Reptiles like adders and lizards would not have been able to move fast enough. Large animals like foxes and deer would have been able to move out of the area quite quickly,” said Ashdown Forest Ranger Chris Sutton. All is not lost – within four weeks we’ll have grass growing and in six months you probably won’t know too much has gone on here.”
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