Pictured, shocking scale of moorland devastation
SATELLITE MAP REVEALS AREA FOUR TIMES THE SIZE OF HEATON PARK IS TORCHED
THIS incredible satellite image shows the staggering scale of the Saddleworth Moor fire.
More than 900 hectares of moorland have been torched in the blaze – an area that’s roughly four times the size of Heaton Park.
This picture highlights just how terrifyingly close the fire, highlighted in yellow on the map, came to homes in the village of Carrbrook in Stalybridge.
The image was released yesterday by Copernicus, an emergency mapping service funded by the European Commission to help tackle wildfires, flooding and drought.
It was produced using data from the Sentinel 2b and Landsat 8 satellites.
Copernicus tweeted: “Our #RapidMappingTeam has delivered its 1st delineation map of the #saddleworthmoorfire based on #Landsat-8 imagery.
“It reveals that close to 900 ha have been affected.”
According to Copernicus figures the vast majority of land affected by the blaze is classified as ‘inland wetlands,’ although some relatively small areas of pasture and shrubland have also been destroyed.
It comes as soldiers were deployed to help battle the wildfire.
Yesterday troops from 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, and an RAF Chinook helicopter were scrambled to the region to support fire crews.
It is five days since crews were first called to deal with flames which took hold of moorland between Oldham and Tameside.
Around 34 homes were evacuated on Tuesday night as the inferno on the moors edged closer to people’s property in Carrbrook.
The fire which is stretched across seven miles of moorland has been contained and crews are continuing to make good progress in extinguishing the fires.
There are six affected areas across the moorland where firefighters and troops were deployed to yesterday.