New Forest Fire Stations Burgled: Burley and Fordingbridge

Two New Forest fire stations were broken into on the same night and rescue equipment was taken from both. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is now appealing for witnesses and for footage.

The stations are at Burley, on Ringwood Road, and Fordingbridge, on Station Road. The police statement describes both as New Forest retained stations, the older term for on-call crews who are alerted from home or work rather than sitting on station through a shift.

The fire service put out its own statement first, on 14 September. The police appeal followed on 16 September.

What the two statements say

The force’s appeal gives the times and the method:

• The two burglaries happened between 2pm on Saturday 5 September and 9.45am on Sunday 6 September.
• Entry was forced to a window and a door.
• “Vital lifesaving equipment” was stolen from the stations at Burley and Fordingbridge.
• Officers particularly want to hear from anyone with footage, including CCTV and dash cam, between 4.30am and 5am on Sunday 6 September.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service’s own statement says what the equipment was for. The break-ins were discovered on Sunday 6 September, and what was taken was “critical life-saving rescue equipment used by firefighters at road traffic collisions and other major emergencies”.

PC Adrian Woodhead said in the police appeal: “New Forest retained fire stations provide a vital life-saving role to rural communities, and have been heavily deployed over the summer to wildfires and other road incidents.

“Theft of expensive equipment increases the risk to the general public and can impact emergency response capabilities.”

This is not the first one

The line worth noticing is in the fire service statement rather than the police one.

“Like fire and rescue services across the country, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has experienced a number of break-ins and attempted break-ins at its sites,” it says. The Service says it “continues to review and strengthen security measures” and is working with the police to prevent more.

Group Manager Danny Miles said: “The theft of specialist firefighting equipment is reckless and dangerous and has the potential to affect emergency response capabilities putting lives at risk.

“We are asking people to be our eyes and ears. You can help us by reporting any suspicious activity you spot near your local fire station or fire engines, particularly in rural areas.”

Neither organisation has said how many other sites have been hit, or when.

The crews that were burgled are the crews that fought the summer’s fires

PC Woodhead’s line about wildfire deployment is not a general one. The fire service’s own incident log for the Hale Purlieu fire names both stations, first, among the ten that sent crews.

Firefighters were called shortly after 2.30pm on Saturday 8 August to a large fire in trees and scrubland near Hale Purlieu, north of Fordingbridge. More than 50 firefighters attended. The incident record lists crews from Fordingbridge, Burley, Totton, Redbridge, Ringwood, St Mary’s, Hightown, Romsey, Eastleigh and Beaulieu, supported by Dorset and Wiltshire.

The fire was deep-seated in peat and undergrowth. Crews were pulled back overnight because it was not safe to work in the dark, returned at first light on the Sunday, and used seven jets over about six hours before the stop message came at 2pm. The site was then handed to National Grid because of a pylon nearby.

That was the second big New Forest fire of the summer. On Sunday 19 July a fire in woodland between Ashurst and Deerleap Inclosure spread to about 10 hectares, five of them severely damaged, with over 60 firefighters on scene at its height. The fire service noted that “a number of discarded disposable BBQs were found throughout the area”.

Three weeks after Hale Purlieu, the Picket Post heathland fire closed the A31 outright and burnt more than 100 hectares. The A31 is still being shut at night for barrier repairs, as our roadworks page sets out.

How unusual this is, in the two places it happened

We checked the recorded crime figures for the two villages ourselves, using data.police.uk, which publishes street-level crime for every force. The figures below cover the six months to July 2026, the most recent month published, and count every crime recorded within about a mile of each fire station.

Around Burley, police recorded 20 crimes of every kind in six months, between two and five a month, and one burglary in the whole period. Around Fordingbridge the figure was 229 crimes and eight burglaries, with the highest month, July, at 50.

Two caveats. Street-level crime data is snapped to anonymised map points rather than exact addresses, so a one-mile radius is an approximation of a place, not a precise count for a building. And the September burglaries themselves will not appear in this data until around November, because police.uk runs roughly two months behind.

What the numbers do show is scale. A burglary in Burley is not a routine event. It is close to the only one of its kind in half a year.

What it means for you

• If you saw or recorded anything near either station between 2pm on Saturday 5 September and 9.45am on Sunday 6 September, and especially between 4.30am and 5am on the Sunday, the police want to hear from you. Call 101 and quote 44260434912 for Fordingbridge or 44260435175 for Burley. Those reference numbers are matched to the stations in the fire service’s statement; the police appeal lists both without saying which is which.
• You can also report online through the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary website.
• Do not approach anyone. Both organisations say the same thing: report suspicious behaviour, do not confront it, and call 999 if a crime is happening.
• The fire service has asked for ongoing vigilance around stations and fire engines, particularly in rural areas. Burley, Fordingbridge, Beaulieu, Brockenhurst, Lyndhurst and Ringwood stations all sit in small settlements with little passing traffic at night.
• If you have ever considered joining an on-call crew, these are the stations the equipment went from. The fire service takes applications through its Working for us section, which carries a “Become an on-call firefighter” route.

Frequently asked questions

Which New Forest fire stations were broken into?

Burley, on Ringwood Road, and Fordingbridge, on Station Road. Both were entered between 2pm on Saturday 5 September and 9.45am on Sunday 6 September 2026, and the break-ins were discovered on the Sunday morning.

What was taken from the fire stations?

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary calls it “vital lifesaving equipment”. The fire service is more specific: “critical life-saving rescue equipment used by firefighters at road traffic collisions and other major emergencies”. Neither has listed the individual items.

How did the burglars get in?

The police statement says entry was forced to a window and a door. It does not say which station each applied to.

What do the police want from the public?

Anyone who witnessed either incident, and anyone with footage that might help, including CCTV and dash cam. They are especially interested in 4.30am to 5am on Sunday 6 September.

How do I report information about the fire station burglaries?

Call 101 and quote 44260434912 for Fordingbridge or 44260435175 for Burley, or report through the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary website. If you see a crime happening, call 999 and do not approach anyone.

Have other Hampshire fire stations been broken into?

The fire service says yes, without giving a number. Its statement says that “like fire and rescue services across the country”, it “has experienced a number of break-ins and attempted break-ins at its sites”.

Is burglary common in Burley and Fordingbridge?

No. Within about a mile of Burley fire station, police recorded 20 crimes of all kinds in the six months to July 2026, one of them a burglary. Around Fordingbridge fire station the figures were 229 crimes and eight burglaries. The September burglaries will not appear in that published data until around November.

Were Burley and Fordingbridge crews at the summer wildfires?

Yes. Both are named in the fire service’s own incident record for the Hale Purlieu fire of 8 and 9 August 2026, which drew more than 50 firefighters from ten stations.

Sources

• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary appeal, 16 September 2026, for the time window of 2pm on Saturday 5 September to 9.45am on Sunday 6 September, entry being forced to a window and a door, the theft of vital lifesaving equipment from the Burley and Fordingbridge stations, the 4.30am to 5am footage request, the two incident numbers and PC Adrian Woodhead’s quotes.
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, 14 September 2026, for the break-ins being discovered on Sunday 6 September, the description of the equipment as critical life-saving rescue equipment used at road traffic collisions and other major emergencies, the statement that the Service has experienced a number of break-ins and attempted break-ins at its sites, Group Manager Danny Miles’s quotes, and for matching incident number 44260434912 to Fordingbridge and 44260435175 to Burley.
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service incident record, large woodland fire in the New Forest, for the Hale Purlieu fire called shortly after 2.30pm on 8 August 2026, the more than 50 firefighters, the list of attending stations beginning with Fordingbridge and Burley, the overnight scale-back, the seven jets over about six hours and the handover to National Grid.
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service incident record, forest fire near Ashurst, for the fire of 19 July 2026 between Ashurst and Deerleap Inclosure, approximately 10 hectares with 5 severely damaged, over 60 firefighters, and the discarded disposable barbecues found in the area.
• New Forest District Council for the Picket Post heathland fire of 9 August 2026 affecting more than 100 hectares.
• data.police.uk street-level crime API, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, queried on 18 September 2026 for a one-mile radius around each fire station for the months February to July 2026. July 2026 is the latest month published. Burley: 3, 2, 2, 5, 3 and 5 crimes, with one burglary, in July. Fordingbridge: 41, 44, 29, 35, 30 and 50 crimes, with burglaries of 1, 3, 0, 1, 1 and 2.
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service station pages for Burley, Ringwood Road, BH24 4BU, and Fordingbridge, Station Road, SP6 1JN.