A huge blaze broke out in marshland in the Wirral, causing great plumes of smoke to rise into the sky and flames to edge close to people's homes.
The fire was raging on marshland in Parkgate, about 10km from Liverpool city centre.
Video from the scene showed a huge blaze burning off The Parade as people watch on, Liverpool Echo reported.
Police evacuated people from their homes and fire fighters put up protections next to homes as the wind fans the flames closer to properties.
Fire fighters contacted police as they fear the blaze may have been started deliberately.
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Alarming videos from the scene show flames creeping up towards the back garden of a home.
A witness on the ground told the Mirror that the fire was close to around eight properties as of 8.15pm.
He said that the flames were rising about seven metres high into the night's sky.
Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the intense blaze, which eyewitnesses say has spread rapidly across the marshland.
As of 9.30pm the fire was still raging, with the number of emergency service workers on the scene only growing as the evening went on.
An hour later the size of the fire had been reduced significantly by the fire fighters' efforts.
At around 11pm, Station Manager Carl Nevitt, the officer in charge of the incident, said: "The marshland is a site of special scientific interest.
"The fire is covering around one square kilometre of the area and is being driven by wind.
"We have created fire breaks to protect properties and the police air support unit has been used to give us information on the directional spread of the blaze.
"We expect to remain at the scene for at least the next three to four hours and would ask that people stay away from the area as we tackle the fire."
As of Sunday morning the fire had been put out, Cheshire Fire Service said.
Parkgate sits on the River Dee by about 100 square kilometres of marshland.
Eyewitness Peter Guy said: "As it was such a beautiful day, lots of people ran out of the pubs and shops on the parade and were all aghast while taking pictures and videos.
"We walked away from the scene as the fire was getting bigger and every time we turned around it seemed to be getting closer. It was like something out of a film.
"We'd just been eating a fish and chips enjoying the sunset when we turned around and saw a small fire about 300 yards away.
"Within seconds it billowed into a huge wall of fire which ripped through the marshland - it was scary and spectacular all at the same time.
"I'm sure lots of wildlife will have been affected or destroyed."
Police cordoned off a large area to keep members of the public away from the fire, while multiple helicopters flew overhead.
Photos taken just before and after sunset suggests the fire was spreading quickly.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has said six fire engines were sent to the scene, including two fire engines from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.
Firefighters tackled the blaze, which covers about 500 square metres, involving using beaters and hose reel jets.
Jane Woodhead, who lives nearby, said: “I feel really saddened it’s a big part of our community.
"It’s scary as well. A lot of rare wildlife live on the marshland. It’s really worrying the impact it could have on them.”
The marsh is home to an RSPB nature reserve that hosts nesting skylarks and redshanks in spring and summer, and thousands of wildfowl and wading birds in winter.
A different fire broke out yesterday on grassland in West Kirby, about 10km from today's blaze.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were called to a section of grass at around 6.10pm on Friday.
Fire fighters used two high pressure hose reel jets to put out the blaze, which was two separate areas of around 20 square meters.
