Military step away from moorland fire duty

Picture courtesy of @manchesterfire on Twitter

Army troops sent to assist crews battling the unprecedented moorland fires in Tameside have been stood down, the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester has announced.

Beverley Hughes, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime and Fire, said the order for military support to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) was not being extended into the weekend as firefighters are making good progress, although conditions remain challenging.

Meeting with army officials at Stalybridge Community Fire Station this morning, the Deputy Mayor thanked the Ministry of Defence for their support nine days after soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) arrived in Greater Manchester to provide support to firefighters and officers who are now at the end of their second week of firefighting on the moorlands in Tameside.

A helicopter flyover was carried out this morning to assess the scene and the soldiers were immediately released.

The Deputy Mayor said: “We are extremely grateful to the Royal Regiment of Scotland troops for their support during this very challenging time and I want to thank them on behalf of the fire service and also the public of Greater Manchester.

“Today there are 11 GMFRS fire crews at the Tameside incident and good progress is being made – so much so that officers hope to be able to release crews from most of the other services by the weekend, with just a small number of special appliances and fire engines from Cheshire remaining for support.”

Also this morning, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has announced that GMFRS crews will be released from some parts of the incident ground at Winter Hill where firefighters from Greater Manchester, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and other services from across the UK have spent eight days fighting a moorland fire.

It comes after he visited crews on the scene again to thank firefighters and officers for their efforts and see first-hand the work that is taking place.

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