Call for vigilance as firefighters tackle latest blaze to hit Yorkshire moorland

Firefighters remained at the scene at Cragg Road, Mytholmroyd, yesterday, after being alerted at 6pm on Tuesday.

Around 1.5 square kilometres of land has been blackened, and at the height of the blaze crews battled a fire front of 300 metres.

As the area smouldered another moorland fire in Calderdale which crews had been fighting since Monday was also said to be under control.

The blaze affected around one square kilometre of land at Ovenden Moor near Wainstalls.

Fire chiefs across Yorkshire urged people to be vigilant as warm, dry and windy conditions have left large parts of the countryside susceptible to fire outbreaks.

The group manager at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Jonathan Foster, said the county had been spared the worst of the moorland blazes, but firefighters had still been called out to five incidents in the past few weeks. Fire crews in South Yorkshire also warned of the imminent danger of grassland fires.

Low levels in reservoirs on Saddleworth Moor above Manchester after a prolonged dry spell has reduced dramatically the water stored in many areas.