Arson probe at moor after reports of bonfire being lit
THE blaze raging on Saddleworth Moor for 10 days is now being investigated as arson, police said.
Witnesses told officers they saw people lighting a bonfire on June 24.
Chief Supt Neil Evans said the charred scene in Greater Manchester meant establishing the cause and source of the blaze would be “painstaking”.
He added: “The scale of this fire is exceptional and we are treating it with the utmost seriousness.” Yesterday a second water-drop helicopter joined the battle involving hundreds of firefighters and soldiers. And in the separate huge firefight at Winter Hill, near Bolton, social media hailed a mole rescue. The animal was saved by Luther Sweeney, drafted in from Nottinghamshire, and a tweet read: “True heroes. No animal too small to save.”