Fires frontline
»»Blackened beauty spots are hidden under thick smoke cloud »»With no rain forecast, blaze could keep burning for weeks
THE blackened hillside stretches as far as the eye can see, destroyed by wildfires raging for almost a week.
Views from Winter Hill are normally breathtaking, but today the horizon is a cloud of fog and smoke which has thickened the air and sticks in your throat.
Fire crews have been working round the clock to tackle the blaze near Bolton, but say it could burn on underground for weeks with no rain forecast.
Meanwhile, residents elsewhere are facing their own ordeals, such as those at Harrison Park in Wallasey, Wirral, where flames came dangerously close to an estate of newly-built houses.
Back on Winter Hill, one firefighter said: “This is the worst moorland fire I have worked on in 18 years.
“It is the sheer scale of it. The fact we have had to bring in firefighters from other areas is unheard of. Nobody has moaned though – that’s what we are here for.”
The heat from the burning peat radiates through the soles of my thick rubber hiking boots, smoke rises from the ground and my legs are hot and blackened from the soot. Temperatures are hitting 30C even without the searing heat from 15ft below ground. Firefighters have been using fog spikes, metal rods they push deep underground and then flush with water, to try to extinguish the blaze below ground.
Crews have been starting at around 3.30am each day – as soon as it gets light – and working until 10.30pm when Grass alight near new homes it gets dark and is too dangerous for them to remain on the moor.
They still stay on the edge to monitor the fire, ensuring it does not spread or that a change in wind direction could put homes at risk. Residents’ gratitude is clear. Children have made posters to put in their front windows declaring: “Thank you for saving our hill.”
Kitchen firm boss Michael Sewell, 55, and wife Belinda feared their home was going up in flames last Friday as the fire spread to 50 yards from their back door.
Mr Sewell said: “Firefighters dug a trench around our house. We were evacuated and haven’t been able to go back.
“One crew who looked after our house had been on shift for 15 hours.”
More than 150 firefighters have been assigned, with support from mountain rescue, the coastguard and two helicopters which have brought water from reservoirs to dump on hotspots.
Trenches have been dug to protect the Winter Hill radio transmitter which provides TV signal to more than seven million homes.
One man has been questioned on suspicion of starting the blaze was released. Now firefighters are faced with arsonists starting new fires.
A source said: “The job is hard enough without idiots going setting fire to the peat.”
As the heatwave goes on, brigades from Lancashire to North Wales, Hereford & Worcester, Merseyside and Bucks are all tackling major blazes.
More than 160 firefighters and 100 military personnel are still battling the fire that began more than a week ago on Saddleworth Moor, Greater Manchester.
BATTLING BLAZE ON WINTER HILL
The worst moorland fire I have worked on in 18 years FIREFIGHTER