TEN acres of nationally important maritime heath has been destroyed in a serious heathland fire at Hurlestone Point, near Selworthy. Owners the National Trust believe it will be several years before the area shows any signs of recovery due to the ferocity of the blaze. Fire crews from Minehead, Porlock, Williton and Wiveliscombe were among the first called to the scene just before 5pm on Monday. Firefighters then worked in shifts to tackle the flames, calling in relief crews and specialist equipment from Bridgwater and Lynton as the fire continued to rage well into the following day. Crews eventually managed to put out the fire at 10pm on Tuesday evening but were called back just hours later when a 'hotspot' flared up again in the heat of Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters from Minehead, Williton, Dulverton, Wiveliscombe, Porlock and Yeovil was called in together with specialist appliances from Taunton and Bridgwater. Some one and a half acres of gorse were affected by the second blaze, which was brought under control and extinguished just before 6.30pm the same day. Although the cause of the original fire is not certain, trust staff believe it was probably started accidentally, prompting calls for people to be particularly vigilant during the hot weather. Nigel Hester, of the trust's Holnicote estate, said: "This sort of unfortunate incident really does send out the message to people they must be so careful when everything is tinder dry. "The ten acres affected were one our most important bits of maritime heath and was particularly important for slow-growing plants such as lichens. "The soil has been so badly burned it will take years and years before things start to come back."