RING OF FIRE
ARMY AND FIREFIGHTERS BATTLING ON TWO FRONTS AS FIERCE BLAZE BREAKS OUT ON WINTER HILL
STRAINED fire services across the region were placed under even more pressure last night when a second huge blaze took hold of Winter Hill.
As the wildfires raged for a fifth day over Saddleworth Moor, another fire broke out on the peak near a TV mast north of Bolton.
Around 60 firefighters were scrambled to grassland three miles north west of the town centre, shortly after 3pm on Thursday.
The mast is part of a network which controls the TV broadcasts across the region.
Seven engines from Greater Manchester were sent to support a further five appliances from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service. They continued to tackle the flames late into last night.
The Winter Hill blaze came as more than 100 firefighters from Greater Manchester and surrounding counties continued their efforts on burning peatland over Saddleworth Moor and Tameside.
A total of 24 fire engines were on the scene through the day, along with specialist units and officers. They were boosted by a military deployment, with 100 soldiers arriving yesterday morning.
A third blaze also broke out at a commercial premises on Moss Bridge Road in Rochdale earlier in the day.
John Taylor, press officer for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, was at the scene on Winter Hill last night.
He said: “It’s a wide area and it’s very labour intensive putting out every square metre of burning grass. There is no fire at the mast; it’s a moorland fire so just the grass is on fire.”
He said the blaze was on a ‘much lesser scale’ than the Saddleworth incident and it was heading away from homes and residents.
The flames covered around 300m yesterday, but the smoke patches spread over a far wider area.
Forecasters expect the hot, dry weather to last for several days more, with ‘virtually no chance’ of rain until next Wednesday at the earliest.
Last night, fire chiefs issued a plea, asking residents across the region to take extra care and keep themselves safe, particularly with the hot weather expected to continue.
Area Manager Paul Etches, said: “Today we’ve also had a number of other significant incidents and I’d like to appeal to the public to take extra care to keep themselves, their families and their property safe – particularly with the hot weather that is expected to continue over the next few days.”