Editing Wareham Forest (section)

==History==
Wareham Forest featured in the American magazine [[Life (magazine)|''Life'']] on 20 October 1947.<ref name="books.google">{{cite magazine|magazine=Life|date=20 October 1947|page=44|accessdate=8 April 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFEEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Wareham+Forest&pg=PA44|title=LIFE|last1=Inc|first1=Time}}</ref>
The article describes a fire that raged for four days across [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]] Heath in the summer of that year. The fire severed the road from Wareham to [[Bere Regis]] and exploded ammunition left behind from [[Second World War]] troop manoeuvres.<ref name="books.google" /> 
The photograph accompanying the ''Life'' piece shows fire-fighters trying to counteract the blaze, which saw flames leap to over 150 feet in height.<ref name="books.google" />
Thanks to these efforts, a majority of the forest was saved.<ref name="books.google" />
A 55-acre tourist park and campsite now makes up part of Wareham Forest.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.warehamforest.co.uk/|title=Wareham Forest Tourist Park|author=Tony and Sarah Birch |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref> 
In 2012, a married couple walking their dog over the heath had to be rescued by the Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, after they became stuck in a freezing [[swamp]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Rescue drama after couple stuck in mud in Wareham Forest |first=Jim |last=Durkin |url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9502634.Rescue_drama_after_couple_stuck_in_mud_in_Wareham_Forest/ |newspaper=Bournemouth Echo |date=31 January 2012 |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref> In May 2020, a large-scale fire, the [[2020 Wareham Forest fire|Wareham Forest fire]], was believed to have been started by a disposable barbecue or camp fire and worsened by warm, dry conditions. The fire left 550 acres (220 hectares) of the forest damaged.<ref>{{cite web|date=21 May 2020|title=Wareham Forest blaze 'started by disposable barbecue or camp-fire'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-58479215|website=BBC News|accessdate=24 November 2021}}</ref>