WW2 bombs hamper efforts to tackle moorland blaze

The fire, which covers an area of around 10 sq miles, is inland between the seaside towns of Whitby and Scarborough

Fire crews battling a vast moorland blaze in North Yorkshire have said they have been hampered by exploding World War Two bombs and tank shells.

Emergency services have been tackling the fire, which covers about 10 sq miles (25 sq km), on Langdale Moor, in the North York Moors National Park, since Monday 11 August.

County Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson said part of the site had been a tank training ground in the 1940s and there had been more than 18 explosions as the fire had burned down through the peat to previously hidden explosives.

Mr Dyson said the fire service was treating the incident as a "significant wildfire" and had requested help from other services across England.

He said in some places crews had to adopt a "very defensive fire-fighting strategy" due to the unexploded bombs.

"As the peat continues to burn down it is finding the World War Two ordnance and therefore exploding and we have now experienced over 18 ordnance explosions within key areas," the officer added.

Mr Dyson said crews had made significant progress in managing and containing the fire before the weekend, but the blaze had "more than doubled in 24 hours" as a result of a change in the wind and the temperature.

"The fire has made a rapid spread further north and across to the north west," he explained.

Crews were now trying to minimise the spread and had 10 appliances committed to the operation along with 60 firefighters.

"I have today made a request to National Resilience for national assets to be deployed to the area," the officer said.

Up to 10 appliances from other fire services across England are expected to arrive swiftly.

The fire service has been receiving support from farmers and the wider community as it battles the blaze

BBC News' Liz Roberts has been at Rigg Farm, on the outskirts of Whitby during Wednesday.

The producer said she could feel the acrid smoke catch the back of her throat and start to sting her eyes.

She said farmers were working with firefighters at the top of the hill to try and slow the blaze's progress - when they could find them through the smoke.

"There are teams on either side of a gully cutting into the hillside and cutting down trees to create a firebreak," she explained.

She said the farmers and firefighters had blackened faces and sore eyes.

"It's nasty stuff," one farmer told her.

"It's people's livelihoods," farm worker Darren Coates added.

"To see the moors and farmland burned to a crisp it is just devastating."

The fire has produced intense smoke as seen from Scarborough Castle on Tuesday evening

Chief fire officer Mr Dyson said it had been a "truly community engaged effort" in the fire fighting.

"We've utilised and received great support from our local farming community."

He said the fire had placed pressure on "business as usual" for fire fighting around the county, especially as the force was largely an on-call service.

A number of people had been evacuated from "some small areas" and strategies were in place if further evacuations were needed in areas with larger populations, the officer said.

He also reminded people there were a number of road closures in the area including the A171 at Fylingthorpe, which is the main road between Scarborough and Whitby,

Despite the problems, the Mr Dyson said the service had "absolute confidence" they would bring the incident to a successful conclusion.

For business owners in the area the fire is a potential threat to their futures

Ed Gaskarth and Verity Bellamy own the Coast and Camplight glamping site at nearby Stainsacre and had to begin evacuating visitors on Tuesday.

"I was born here. I've never known a summer like this before," said Mr Gaskarth.

Ms Bellamy said: "I'm really scared at the thought of the business going up in flames. I don't know what we'd do.

"We haven't slept and are praying for rain."

Cara Shardlow, who lives in Sneatonthorpe near Whitby, said her family had been put on standby for evacuation from their farm as her family continued to support the effort to bring the blaze under control.

"My dad's out there driving a tractor and a tanker, my brother's out there, my uncle has been out all night, plus the Danby fire crew are up on that bit of moor and I went up and took them food.

"They are literally just putting their lives on the line. I've heard some awful stories about what farmers have been doing. It's quite scary."

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake, whose Thirsk and Malton seat includes part of the fire-hit area, said he had a meeting on the response with government officials earlier.

He called for national financial support from Peter Lee, director of fire at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

"There is a request to make sure it's not just North Yorkshire taxpayers that have to fund the cost of tackling this fire," he said.

York & North Yorkshire's Labour mayor David Skaith said he had been told financial aid had been confirmed.

"This sort of response comes at a great cost, and we are working closely at the national level with the government, and have been doing so for the past week or so," he said.

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