Grass fires rage

DRAMATIC . . . the moorland blaze reflected in Yeoman Hey Reservoir. Picture by Chronicle reader Geoff Frost

The sunny weekend sparked a series of grass fires throughout Oldham, with the worst raging in the hills above Saddleworth as 40 firefighters tackled the blaze.

Mossley firefighters were first on the scene after the alert on Saturday at 8pm and called for re-inforcements to help get the flames under control around Binn Green near Dovestone Reservoir, Greenfield.

The blaze was confined to dead grass, and emergency crews concentrated their efforts on preventing it spreading to peat bogs on the top of the moor. Once fire hits the bogs, it can become deep seated and take weeks to put out, as moorland winds fan the flames.

In a separate incident, firefighters from Oldham and Chadderton fought a grass fire on the moors above Rochdale Road, Denshaw, on Saturday afternoon. A third grass fire occurred on a banking in Glodwick Lows near the Matalan store.

Watch commander Mark Beswick issued a warning to people not to light fires on grassland and to be careful not to discard matches or cigarette ends. He said: “What starts as a small grass fire can soon turn into something much bigger.”