Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service says its partnership with Peak District landowners and land managers will be strengthened with more joint work and training in the coming months, after a summer in which blazes once again swept the moors above Stalybridge.
The fire service and the Peak District Moorland Group came together at Stalybridge Community Fire Station’s open day earlier this month. Firefighters, gamekeepers and land managers showed residents the equipment used to tackle moorland fires and what the uplands need to become more resilient to the blazes that have hit the Peak District over the past decade.
Stalybridge and the surrounding communities have been badly affected by wildfire in recent years, including in 2018 and again this summer, with fires tearing through much-loved stretches of open moorland on the town’s doorstep.
Martin Cain, GMFRS Station Manager for Stalybridge and Hyde, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome local landowners along with land managers to celebrate the successful partnership work displayed throughout the summer. Without these key partnerships and ongoing work every partner would struggle to manage individually. The coming months will see these partnerships strengthened and developed with more joint work and training.
“From GMFRS, a big thank you to all partners who continue to help keep the local communities safe.”
Volunteers from the moorland group spoke to visitors of all ages throughout the day, with demonstrations for children using a Scotty Pack and simulated flames, showing how small fires, campfires and illegal barbecues are extinguished before they spread.
The group also handed out literature from the Future Landscape Forum, wildfire research from the University of York, and the report Wildfire Is Inevitable: It’s Not If, But When, a risk assessment of Peak District moorland. By mid-afternoon, they were close to running out of copies.
Richard Bailey, Coordinator of the Peak District Moorland Group, said: “The reception we had from people in Stalybridge was remarkable. This is a community that has watched its moors burn repeatedly, including in 2018 and again this summer, and they came to us with serious questions about why it keeps happening.
“Our members have decades of experience managing these landscapes. Changes to Government regulation have left more combustible vegetation on the moors, and local people can see the consequences for themselves. There is a real appetite for practical, proven ways of reducing the risk, and we were glad to share the latest research with so many families.”
