Think before fanning the flames

AS hero firefighters battle raging moorland blazes, their jobs are being made even harder by ‘reckless’ individuals.

They’re doing things they have been warned repeatedly not to do, hampering the monumental efforts currently ongoing to fight the fires at Winter Hill and Saddleworth Moor. These are just some of the idiotic ways the public are hindering the huge firefighting operations. The public have been told by police many times to stay away from the Winter Hill area – but it appears the message is falling on deaf ears. Lancashire Police have reported people driving to the scene to film smoke plumes and fires on mobile phones. A dramatic shot of the fire isn’t worth the risk. Stay away. As a result of the above sightseeing shenanigans, access roads have been blocked for emergency vehicles by parked cars. And firefighters really need to be able to get to the fire – obviously. As a consequence roads have been closed. Unbelievably there have been reports of people heading to the scenes with drones to capture views from the air. Lancashire Police again issued a warning yesterday, saying the force has received reports of people heading to Winter Hill to fly drones over the burning moorland to record footage. One man thought it would be a good idea to walk across police tape to get closer to the fire. It wasn’t. Police said he ‘wandered’ up to Pike Tower, where firefighters were working to hold back a fire close to Winter Hill, and promptly collapsed from smoke inhalation. Even more unbelievably, people have been reportedly lighting fires. Police have reportedly ‘apprehended’ somebody.

Tony Crook, area manager for Lancashire Fire Service, said: “A United Utilities helicopter which was dropping off water at Healey Nab found people lighting fires in the vicinity in the area where the fire was already burning. They alerted us here, we called the officers in the police helicopter nearby and they apprehended somebody.”