More Fires Hit Northern Hills

There were more moorland fires at the weekend with a huge blazeon National Trust land above Marsden, near Huddersfield, and a smaller fire above Scammonden Reservoir in the same area. There was also a fire at Dalby Forest near Whitby on the North Yorks Moors.

In the Forest of Bowland, another fire is thought to have destroyed nesting sites of the rare hen harrier which nests in deep heather. See this story. The Marsden fire engulfed two square miles of land and was eventually quenched with the help of seven fire crews and a National Trust helicopter.

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, the uncharacteristically dry early spring weather has created tinder box conditions on northern hills and in particular on moorland where dry gorse and heather can burn fiercely when ignited.

The situation shows no sign of improvement either with no heavy rain forecast in the immediate future. National Park Authorities have called for visitors to take extreme care and there are fire warning signs at the boundary of open country in the Peak District.

Sadly not everyone seems to have taken notice and there were several cigarette stubs lying around on Kinder at the weekend...