Manchester fire chief warns against ‘reckless behaviour’ after wildfires | Wildfires

A fire chief has called on visitors to the countryside to refrain from “reckless behaviour” on days out as lockdown eases, after a large fire broke out on Marsden Moor over the weekend, along with fires in Cumbria and Bury.

Dave Russel, Greater Manchester fire and rescue service’s chief fire officer, described a very busy 72 hours for the force, with a major incident being declared at the Bury fire.

The wildfire on Marsden Moors, West Yorkshire, began on Sunday evening, just after 7pm, and developed into to a mile-long blaze. Ten pumps plus specialist wildfire units were dispatched to tackle it, with crews from both West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester dispatched to help.

The fire caused severe damage to a precious area for rare birds and was caused by people, according to the landowner, the National Trust. The area was also hit by a fire last year.

West Yorkshire fire and rescue service (WYFRS) advised nearby residents to keep their doors and windows closed and warned people to stay away from the area.

Russel urged the public to be vigilant to avoid a repeat of the fires of last summer. He also recalled the devastating moor fires in Greater Manchester in the summer of 2018 when the force spent 41 days extinguishing a blaze on Winter Hill.

“My advice would be that people enjoy the countryside and the open space, but believing it’s OK to take a disposable barbecue or to light a campfire is an absolute no. I think it’s reckless behaviour … and I think people who smoke should refrain from smoking. Whilst out in those open spaces, the ground is just so dry, any flame – innocent or otherwise – can lead to rapid fire-spread”.

The fire chief said he was worried that as people begin to spend more time outdoors, with the combination of eased lockdown restrictions and sunny, dry weather, there could be an increase in blazes caused by barbecues, campfires or discarded cigarettes. Last summer there were increased number of visitors to national parks and beauty spots, but also a rise in fires and litter.

Craig Best, countryside manager for the National Trust, said it was “so frustrating to see yet another fire on our moors”. A different area of the moorland was destroyed by a fire started by a barbecue in 2019.

He thanked firefighters for their efforts but said: “Unfortunately, this was another fire started by people, and could have so easily been avoided.

“Climate change is causing more frequent and intense spells of hot, dry weather, which turns these upland areas into tinder boxes. That’s why our team are working hard to re-wet these moorlands and to educate people on the dangers of fires, fireworks and barbecues on open moors.”

The damage caused by the fire two years ago, nearly to the day, destroyed 700 hectares (1729 acres) of land and took four days to fully extinguish. The restoration effort from that fire is expected to cost at least £500,000 and take several years.

A major incident in Greater Manchester was declared in the early hours of Monday morning after a fire broke out on a landfill site in Bury. Crews from 10 stations were tackling the blaze at Pilsworth Quarry on Monday. Russel said they would “undoubtedly” be on site for several days, as the scale of the fire and the material involved posed a huge challenge to extinguish. An area of about 15,000 square metres, containing shredded foam, rubber and plastic, was set alight. The Pilsworth quarry site receives heavy goods vehicles from all over the north-west and the Midlands carrying large volumes of commercial waste.

The force said an investigation was under way to establish what, or who, started the fire.