Moors fire finally out
Moors fire finally out
01 October 2010
published by www.goolecourier.co.uk
United Kingdom — The fire that ravaged 40 hectares of Goole Moors two months ago is officially out, according to site owners Natural England.
On August 28, the blaze started on the northern edge of the moors, where dry conditions on the peat and strong winds quickly whipped up the flames.
Fire crews, Natural England staff and volunteers and neighbouring farmers and contractors fought hard to contain and extinguish the fire. During its peak, there were nine pumps and 50 fire crew fighting the blaze.
Natural England has spent years re-wetting the site to improve the area for wildlife and make it easier to look after the peat so, they say, the fire did not go deeply into the clay layer beneath.
Containment of the fire has, they say, been the key to ensuring a swift recovery for the plants and animals that thrive there.
Senior Reserve Manager, Kevin Bull said: The tremendous hard work of the fire crews, volunteers, staff and our neighbours managed to contain the fire to around two per cent of the site I cant thank everyone enough for their help and commitment.
Their tremendous efforts left plenty of the Reserve for the wildlife to escape to. Were confident the vegetation should grow back quite quickly theres already cotton grass coming through. Once the plants have re-colonised, the insects should follow and the recovery will build from there.
Peter Nottage, Natural Englands Regional Director for Yorkshire and the Humber said: Im astonished that the damage was so limited and thats down to the hard work of everyone involved.
