A holidaymaker forced to evacuate a Suffolk holiday park as a wildfire swept through has described the experience as feeling like the “end of the world”.
Connor Dowsett, 23, was staying at his grandparents’ lodge at Cliff House Holiday Park in Dunwich when he was ordered to leave on Wednesday, shortly before officers rescued his dog.
“We noticed the moon… it was very orange. As we were getting closer, we could see the glow of the fire,” the Essex resident said.
“We could see the brown smoke filling the air. The smell was powerful. It was like ‘wow’.
“It was like something out of an apocalypse film. Like the end of the world. It was a scary, scary sight.”
Mr Dowsett, who regularly visits the site three or four times a year, arrived in Suffolk on Monday afternoon and “only had a day and a half” of his break before it was cut short.
Since being evacuated, he has been staying at a couple’s home in the nearby village of Westleton, and said: “The love we have felt since we got here – it’s great.”
Mr Dowsett added: “We are lucky, since it was just a house that we go to stay in. It’s not a house that we live in.”
His dog, a shih tzu-poodle cross named Doug, was rescued from their lodge by a police officer, he said.
Mr Dowsett added: “Our dog was obviously left in our lodge… (we) didn’t want to leave him. We were terrified.
“We got a member of the CID to go and pick him up.”
He said he will “absolutely” finish his holiday if the emergency services say it is safe for him to stay there.
Martin Harris, 80, and his wife Sheila Harris, 76, have visited Dunwich Cliffs Estate holiday park for more than 40 years.
They said that they only had time to pack their medication before leaving their static caravan.
Mrs Harris said they saw a “glow”, adding: “It went from just being in the distance, and suddenly we were just covered in this black, and it was really scary so we just wanted to get out, really.”
She added: “Yesterday, I had a really bad moment because I suddenly thought: ‘I’ve been on (the caravan) site since 1980.’ And I thought: ‘If the caravan goes, then no chance of affording another one.’
“I want to make the decision when I leave forever. I don’t want it taken out of my hands.”
She added: “I’ve never, ever wanted to go home in all the years I’ve been coming, but today I just want to go home.”
Mr Harris said they were lucky to get a room in a bed and breakfast.
He added: “A lot of people, they had to sleep in their cars.
“The people of Westleton have been fantastic. I don’t know what we’d have done without them.”
The couple plan to go home to Uxbridge in west London after collecting some belongings on Friday afternoon, but said they will return to their caravan in two weeks for another visit.
