Farm on the M62: Wildfire crisis, but no-one listens - Jill Thorp

It burnt fast decimating a large area, before it was brought under control by the now, very experienced fire teams. The following day another one was off followed by several others seen in the far distance. Within a space of a couple of hours, the moor to the north of us started to burn as did another above Baitings reservoir. Our yard quickly filled with smoke and eventually ash started falling like tiny snowflakes from the sky. Whilst the motorway, for once did us a favour and kept the fire away from us, it couldn’t stop the burning embers as they drifted on the breeze frighteningly close to our cow shed. Inside, the cows with their young calves shifted uneasily, unsettled by the smoke. As the wind picked up the fire began to accelerate sending a huge cloud of dense, choking smoke into the air, eventually blocking out the sun. I stood staring at the flames dancing across the moors, feeling like Armageddon was upon us. We are subjected to this every year now. Disposable barbecues and idiots creating exciting footage for a bit of TikTok content. The lack of respect and care for our countryside has been apparent for some time now, so I’m no longer shocked to witness this mindless destruction. The problem goes so much deeper, however, than catching those responsible and actually punishing them, which seems to be low on anyone’s agenda. The real issue here is the lack of management of our uplands which allow these huge, out of control fires to wreak so much damage. Countless lives are put at risk when firemen and women, farmers and keepers go out to fight them. It’s a pointless exercise with no effective fire breaks and huge fuel loads making the task highly dangerous and no doubt, frustrating. The “rewilding” agenda which seems to be this year’s trendy tag line is without a doubt proving a popular one, it fails, however, on many fronts when it consistently ignores techniques that have been proven to be not just beneficial but essential. Perhaps knowledge should be gained from our distant relatives down under who witnessed devastating wild fires in 2019 when ancient techniques were ignored. Those devastating fires that tore through Australia saw an estimated three billion native animals perish as well as large scale evacuations. Whilst our moorland fires tend not to require such drastic action the damage to our native flora and fauna is not only heartbreaking but catastrophic. At which point do our voices get heard and we are allowed to manage our uplands in the same way the Native American and Aboriginal people did. Why is it those sat behind a desk fresh out of university get to decide on how the land is managed. How many more fires do we have to suffer before this absolute nonsense of removing hefted flocks, breaking up farms and trampling over generations of know how and understanding is stopped?