Crews remain at Marsden Moor fire as weather “continues to get warmer”

Crews from Rastrick and Hunslet are in attendance with Todmorden Wildfire Unit, wildfire support and Skelmanthorpe welfare unit.

This is the seventh fire on Marsden Moor so far this year according to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service.

A West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We are still at Marsden Moor as our firefighters continue battling with the smoke pockets that are regularly appearing.

"Damping down on the moors involves digging into the ground where the hotspots are and applying water.

"This isn’t easy, as getting water onto the moor means having to use our all-terrain vehicles. We still have the Argocat on site, which has a large water tank, and today we are sending out the Polaris vehicle from Holmfirth, which is a 4x4 with a water tank on the back.”

Crews from Slaithwaite and Todmorden will be at the site today ensuring flames don’t appear as the weather continues to get warmer, WYFRS said.

At the scene is Station Manager Adrian Bairstow, who has been leading the operation.

He said crews put the flames out, however an area reignited and the flames stretched to 1km in length.

“This morning was the best time to attack the flames as it was cool and there was hardly any wind,” he said.

“What we are left with now is a large black area of burnt vegetation measuring around 2km square.

“There are several hot spots within that area where embers are still burning away, but we have now managed to get rid of the flames. Crews are now walking around the perimeter, extinguishing any hot spots at the edges to stop the fire spreading onto fresh grass.

“The fire has spread so quickly because the dry grass burns easily and with this warm weather we know there is no rain coming.

"Dealing with a fire on this scale is exhausting work for firefighters who have been using beaters and blowers as well as the Argocat.”