Long, hot, tinderbox summers when sparks set moors ablaze across Yorkshire

THE FIRE raging on Saddleworth Moor is an all-too-familiar feature of dry summers in the North.

In 2006, the worst fire on Ilkley Moor for at least two decades destroyed an estimated 500 acres of land from Addingham to Ben Rhydding – about a quarter of the moor. The blaze was thought to have been started deliberately.

Countryside officials estimated it would take around 20 years for the vegetation to recover, and that the smoke may have killed ground nesting birds such as grouse, pheasant and curlew.

Firefighters from eight different stations worked in shifts to tackle the flames, with gamekeepers taking them to inaccessible areas in off-road vehicles.

At around the same time, flames spread across 170 acres of the North York Moors near Ruswarp, fuelling fears of a re- peat of the huge conflagration at Fylingdales in 2003.

On that occasion, a discarded cigarette, near the coast at Ravenscar, ignited and spread across 250 hectares of moorland and fragile peat soil.

Firefighters again worked in relays to get water to the moor, and at one point a helicopter was scrambled to assist. At the height of the blaze, more than 100 fire appliances were on the scene, some from as far afield as Lancashire. It took five days to bring it under control, and even when it was deemed to be extinguished, crews maintained a 24-hour watch to prevent a further flareup. After the flames, the peat beneath continued to smoulder.

A decade later, grass and heather had reclaimed the moor, but beneath the surface the damage was far from repaired and the peat years from recovery.

“While it was a disaster at the time,” said ranger Chris Hansell on the anniversary, “it revealed the need for a plan to monitor and manage the moor.”

The burnt area was rich in archaeological treasures, and the fire exposed thousands of artefacts, including Mesolithic flints and 185 carved rocks.