Film star sets up crisis line for homeless
“People say it happened because of the weather but there’s no way.
“I think it was children lighting fires and causing mischief. My wife was driving home from the gym when she saw a bin on fire and called 999.”
The fire service incident commander Laura Boocock said the blaze was “quite dramatic to see” but nothing they could not handle. Crews had spent Tuesday night tackling the blaze, with reinforcements sent in yesterday morning.
A spokesman for the National Trust, whose volunteers were called in to help fight the fire, said: “It’s been really upsetting to see such devastation.”
Lead ranger Tom Harman said: “It’s been the driest February on record. Dry grass and heather are really easy to ignite, something like a cigarette end can easily start a fire.
“If fire in vegetation gets into the peat, there can be a serious problem.
“When the peat takes hold, the fire can do major damage, which is what has happened in parts of the moorland here.
“There are still lots of little patches where soil is smouldering and we are trying to put those out. If one of those little patches takes hold then another fire could pop again so we have to be careful.
“We will have to keep a close eye on the area until it rains, then we’ll know everything is definitely out.”
He said wildlife would have perished, with ground nesting birds, such as grouse and curlew, at high risk.
Experts claim that climate change is heating up the whole weather system and making extremes more likely.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman said the “biblical scenes of fire stalking the land” should be a wake-up call on climate change.
He said: “The Government is absolutely failing in its responsibilities to deal with this most-pressing issue facing the planet.
“Our target is for zero net carbon by 2050, with 60% renewable energy by 2030.”
Shadow Environment Secretary Sue Hayman said: “The Government’s plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for preventing and managing wildfires are failing, and the consequences are there to see.”
February looks set to be the warmest on record, the Met Office said. The record was set in 1998, when the average maximum daily temperature was 9.8C.
Yesterday, with just a day to go before March, it was already 9.9C.
Forecaster Becky Mitchell said: “It was really quite cold at the start of the LAURA BOOCOCK FIRE SERVICE COMMANDER Fire came close to property
month – it’s pretty exceptional to have caught up.”
Today will remain fairly mild but it will be more unsettled for many, with heavy rain in western areas tomorrow and unsettled weather for the weekend.
The conditions will be a “big contrast” to the sunny start to the week, said Ms Mitchell, adding: “It will be wet and windy for the whole of the UK, with very strong winds across many places, and we could even have gales in the West.”
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HELP Actor Michael Sheen HOLLYWOOD star Michael Sheen has launched a helpline for young homeless people.
The Damned United actor, 50, set up the outof-hours service after meeting youngsters who had slept rough.
“We said, ‘Tell us what you need when you’re in your situation, with nowhere to go and no one to help you,’” he said. “They came up with the idea.”
The Cardiff-based Youth Homeless Helpline, set up with homelessness charity Llamau, will help callers to find shelter and support.
Llamau said many youngsters ended up on the street after falling out with their families.
So far, £90,000 has been raised to run the helpline. The Mirror is campaigning to end homelessness.
Weather is a factor. It has been the driest February on record