Fire Rages In Peak District
Area may be closed to walkers at weekend, 14 year old arrested on suspicion of arson.
Posted: 5 July 2001
by Jon
A 14-year old boy from Salford has reportedly been arrested in
connection with a moorland fire which has been burning in the Peak
District for the last 24 hours and may cause the area to be closed to
walkers and climbers this weekend.
The boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson and been released
on bail after a fire was started on Robinson's Moss, Arnfield Moor -
GR 045 999 - north of Tintwistle - on the Woodhead Road - early on
Wednesday afternoon.
Around one square mile of moorland has been destroyed by the
blaze already and walkers are being asked not to go into the area,
where the local fire service and staff from the Peak District
National Park and United Utilities are fighting to contain the
blaze.
The area is just to the west of Crowden, which is on the Pennine
Way and an obvious access point for the popular and legendarily boggy
Black Hill as well as the historic crag of Laddow Rocks. See
here
for map
A combination of very dry, 'tinderbox' conditions and wind is
exacerbating the situation and a Fire Brigade spokewoman is quoted as
saying: "They are being hampered by the wind, which is helping to fan
the flames, and the deep-seated peat which is spreading it
underground.'
In a news
release, the Park Authority quotes Senior Ranger Terry Tallis as
saying: 'This fire couldn't have happened at a worse time for the
moorland wildlife...I must appeal to everyone visiting the Peak
District, especially the moorlands, to be alert to the dangers they
inadvertently bring. It only takes one carelessly discarded match or
cigarette end to destroy the beauty they have come to enjoy, harming
wildlife, archaeology and livelihoods.'
The area affected is relatively small and away from the mass of
the Peak - nearby Kinder and Bleaklow for example are unaffected.
However, if you're planning a trip to the Dark Peak this weekend,
we'd suggest that you give the Crowden area a wide berth. We'll let
you know as soon as we can, whether there's a formal ban on walking
in the area and which parts exactly are affected.
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