Firefighters have been stood down from the site of a massive wildfire on Marsden Moor, which burned for three days.
Crews have been battling the flames near Black Moss Reservoir since 7pm on Sunday, April 25.
Firefighters thought they'd brought the blaze under control on Monday, before a change in wind direction at around 2.30pm reignited the flames - pushing the fire to grow further.
A major incident was declared, and specialist equipment and the support of a helicopter was brought in to tackle the blaze.
However, after days of hard work, and a very welcome spell of heavy rain yesterday evening, the fire has now been extinguished, leading West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to stand down their crews this morning.
Two specialist wildfire teams from Holmfirth and Slaithwaite remain on site to assess the damage, and to run checks on the area.
Rangers from the National Trust are out on the scene to start the "heartbreaking" process of assessing the impact on the moorland, but already believe the damage will add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Craig Best, countryside manager for the National Trust, thanked everyone for their help, but also pointed to the fire as proof of how vulnerable the moorlands are to devastating fires.
He said, “We’d like to thank everyone who worked with the National Trust to bring this fire under control. It’s been an incredible effort and our rangers are really grateful. At the moment we are assessing the damage to see how much precious habitat has been lost.”
“We’d like to remind the public that BBQs, fires and fireworks are banned on the moor. This catastrophic event shows just how vulnerable our uplands are, and how a small spark can cause substantial damage. As well as the environmental impact, tens of thousands of pounds that we’ve invested into restoring the moors has been lost. ”
“The local community have been incredibly supportive. The public can help us prevent future fires by donating to our Marsden Moor appeal. The money raised will go back into repairing the damage caused by this fire and re-wetting and restoring Marsden Moor.”
Officials believe the blaze was started by a man who broke the Public Space Protection Order in place to protect the moor.
The man is believed to have started the fire accidentally, by lighting a banned item on the land.
He was spoken to by West Yorkshire Police, who confirmed that no arrests had been made in relation to the fire, although they would be working alongside Kirklees Council to investigate whether the PSPO has been broken.
YorkshireLive reported that a large box of fireworks had been discarded in a nearby car park, with used fireworks recovered from the area close to the blaze, but there is currently no confirmation on what exactly sparked the fire.
The devastating fire, which covered two square miles of land, with a six mile perimeter, comes almost exactly two years after another devastating fire on Marsden Moor.
In April 2019, a huge fire tore through 700 hectares of land, burning for four days before it was finally brought under control with the help of a helicopter.
The full restoration from that fire is expected to take several years, and cost at least £500,000.
People have been reminded on multiple occasions to leave BBQs, campfires, fireworks, and any other devices which could spark a moorfire at home.
BBQs and fires are banned on Marsden Moor at all times of the year, with visitors caught defying the ban risking a fine of up to £2,000.
A Facebook post from the team at Marsden Moor thanked everyone for their help, and also thanked people for the kind donations to their fire-prevention fund.
It read: "For everyone who loves Marsden Moor this has been a terrible few days, but we are extremely touched by the overwhelming response from our partners and the local community.
"We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to support the National Trust over the last several days.
"Thank you to the fire service, all of our partners, neighbours, local farmers and landowners, businesses, charities and the local community who offered their support, food donations, kind words and let us access their land."
Visit the National Trust's Marsden Moor Fire Appeal page to donate to the fund.
