A wildfire has destroyed about 5,000 hectares (12,500 acres) of moorland on Dartmoor in Devon.
Emergency services were called to the blaze at about 2.25pm on Sunday, and firefighters spent almost 24 hours at the scene before it was extinguished on Monday.
The UK has had the warmest start to May on record, with 29.3C registered on Thursday afternoon at Kew Gardens in south-west London, as firefighters battled a 1.6 mile (2km) moorland blaze that broke out near Ripponden, West Yorkshire the same day.
According to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as of 9am on 1 May, fire and rescue services have responded to 439 wildfires since 1 January. That compares with 250 in the same period in 2022, 60 in 2023 and 44 in 2024.
People were asked to avoid the Merrivale and Okehampton areas for the time being, and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the fire might behave unpredictably due to the changing weather.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service posted an update to X on Monday evening saying: “Approximately 12,500 acres of moorland were destroyed by fire.
“Crews assisted by Dartmoor rangers and Commoners using firefighting equipment attempted to extinguish the fire to protect the environment.
“Crews used five Argo Cat vehicles, fogging units, leaf blowers and a drone.”
Dartmoor national park posted a photo of the fire to X on Monday morning, saying: “The dry weather has left Dartmoor highly vulnerable to fire. Please don’t light BBQs or fires.”
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service’s area manager, Simon Young, told the BBC: “Wildfires are always challenging because they are inaccessible for our appliances to go on to our moorland,” he said.
“It makes it very difficult, but we have specialist vehicles to make sure we have capability to get on to the moor and make sure we can do the job as safely as possible.
“The wind has really played its part and we are currently under amber wildfire conditions nationally for the next three to four days.
“We know the conditions are very dry under foot and with the wind it has just exacerbated it.”
Meanwhile, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service was called to a 1.6 hectare fire in the open at about 12.45pm on Monday on Turfhill, Lightwater in Surrey Heath.
Source: theguardian.com
