Moors wall of fire

Reporter: Ken Bennett
Date published: 13 April 2015


A terrifying wall of flame blazed near a popular Saddleworth moorland beauty spot and destroyed a newly-planted forest.

Eight hundred acres of grassland and up to 50,000 trees were consumed by the blaze, which saw fire crews, mountain rescue teams and a volunteer band of helpers battle for six hours to bring it under control.

The fire — the worst on Saddleworth Moor for nearly a decade — began 1,000ft up at Alderman rocks, near Dovestone reservoir. Flames, sparks and vast plumes of smoke, carried by strong winds, could be seen for miles around on Friday afternoon.

The alarm was raised after farmer Chris Crowther (57), spotted youngsters start the fire: “There were six or seven of them,” he said. “They were in a group and when the flames took hold they ran off.

“I couldn’t chase them as the fire was moving very quickly, fanned by the strong winds. I had to try to put out the flames.”

Chris and his three children were supported by farmers, gamekeepers and conservationists who rallied to his call.

“We just couldn’t get in front of the fire,” he said. “We were chasing after it. Flames reached 30ft into the air at one point. And with the grass being so dry, everything simply ignited in its path.”

Five fire engines from Tameside and Oldham were joined later by a five more engines from across Greater Manchester. Firefighters tackled the sprawling area in sectors and specialist vehicles and equipment helped bring the fire under control.

A 14-strong squad from Oldham Mountain Rescue Team helped to transport firefighters, equipment and water along narrow tracks to cut the fire off.

The team received praise from the fire services and Mick Nield, their leader, said: “The fire formed intense flame funnels. If we hadn’t stopped it in its tracks it could have set the peat ablaze which could have been even worse.”

Today Mr Crowther was counting the cost of the mass destruction on the blackened hillsides.

He recently planted forest of assorted trees including ash and silver birch which, along with wildlife, perished in the fire: “Lots of ground-nesting birds and hares have been killed,” he added.

“I was hoping to restart a forest that used to exist here in the 1400s, but those plans have been put back now. But I’d like thank everyone who helped out. It was great team work.”