Fire service and police probe into reckless blaze near Hebden Bridge

The significant blaze took place near Widdop Reservoir, Hebden Bridge, and was a joint effort requiring resources from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

Eight crews and two wildfire units from WYFRS attended after our Control Room was called just after noon on what was a sun-soaked Sunday.

Area Manager for WYFRS, Scott Donegan, said: “We're really disappointed to be called out to tackle yet another preventable moorland fire.

“All fires on moorland are preventable, whatever their cause, and we are dismayed to be dealing with yet another fire of this type which poses a drain on our resources at a time when we are trying to focus on supporting communities through the coronavirus challenge we are facing.

“Moorland fires not only put the public at risk but also our firefighters because they are so unpredictable in nature and challenging to tackle, often spanning many kilometres.

”The National Wildfire Severity Index is currently ‘very high’ risk for the West Yorkshire.

“We are also experiencing a very sunny period which means that vegetation is very dry and we urge people to be incredibly careful should they be on the moorland.

"Careless, or indeed reckless behaviour, can have terrible consequences and is completely unacceptable - people should think twice.

“Last year we launched a campaign called Be Moor Aware alongside our partners and we would stress this message again that people should respect the moors.”

Firefighters worked into the evening to bring the incident under control and yesterday crews from Lancashire and West Yorkshire have remained onsite damping down hotspots and any flare-ups that have occurred.

Inspector Ben Doughty of the Valley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This was a serious incident and I would like to appeal to anyone with information about what happened to call police on 101 quoting log 871 of Sunday 19 April.

"The cause of the fire remains under investigation and we are following reports that people were seen at the scene. We would urge people to follow advice by the Fire and Rescue Service around being careful at all times around moorland which is particularly dry and fragile.”

Investigations into the cause are ongoing and West Yorkshire Police have launched an enquiry.