Wildfire caused by 'discarded barbeque'

A small wildfire on grassland on a cliff beneath Surprise View, Borrowdale, Keswick.Image source, Cumbria Fire and Rescue
Image caption,

The cliffside wildfire could be seen by people at a nearby hotel

  • Published

A wildfire in a national park is believed to have been caused by a discarded barbecue, fire crews have said.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to a "small" fire on the cliff beneath Surprise View, Borrowdale, just before 23:00 BST on Saturday.

The blaze covered a 400 sq-m (4,300 sq-ft) area, and took firefighters about three hours to extinguish.

Nobody was injured, but crews said camping equipment was found at the scene and they believed the fire was caused by a discarded barbecue.

Grassland on the cliff beneath Surprise View, a vantage point overlooking Derwentwater in the Lake District, caught fire, with flames seen by people at the Lodore Falls Hotel.

There was nobody in the vicinity at the time of the fire, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said.

Image source, Cumbria Fire and Rescue
Image caption,

Wildfire teams from Keswick and Ambleside were called to tackle the blaze

Crews reminded people of the importance of disposing of barbecues in a responsible way.

In a social media post, Ambleside Fire station stated: "Be responsible, don't have any fires when camping."

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