Moorland fire in Littleborough

They were joined by crews from Littleborough, Rochdale and Hyde in Blackstone Edge last night (Wednesday) at 9.55pm.

The crews used beaters and hose reels to fight the fire and firefighters placed themselves at strategic points to make sure the fire didn’t spread outside the area they had contained.

Watch Manager Ian Read, based at Rochdale Fire Station’s Blue Watch, said: “We had two acres of moorland well alight and the wind was really fierce, blowing towards us.

“It was really difficult because of the wind so we fought the fire from the edges, from the road and used paths and banks where we had lighting.

“Visibility on the road was also poor due to the smoke so that added to difficulties and we shut the road for a time because of it.

“It’s quite dangerous to go fully onto the moors in the dark so we did the best we could and tried to use the wind to our benefit.

“We managed to protect properties and barns – at one point, the fire was only about 10 metres from a barn.”

Firefighters were up on the moors for around two hours tackling the blaze.