One hot summer, many wild fires
The summer of 2018 has been
a hot one and unfortunately for our uplands, is also the summer of multiple large-scale wildfires. Dove Stone to north
of the Peak District National Park and Winter Hill beyond, the Goyt Valley, Warslow
Moors, and Big Moor on the Eastern Moors have all fallen foul of devastating
fires. In addition many other small-scale fires, caught before they got out of
hand, have been found scattered around the Peak District and beyond,
threatening our wildlife and draining organisations’ resources. The fires are
thought to have been started from a variety of sources including deliberately
started, litter, discarded cigarettes, BBQs and campfires, but the results have
been the same, hectares of countryside burnt, wildlife killed and resources
spent.
The Peak District National
Park has a Fire Operations Group (FOG), working in partnership to reduce risk of
wildfires, sharing advice and resources and working together in the event of a
fire. This team’s effectiveness was apparent during the fire on Big Moor on
Monday 21st May, destroying 45 hectares of upland habitat. The fire,
thought to have been started deliberately, was spotted mid-morning and within
no time Eastern Moors Partnership staff were joined by Peak District National
Trust ranger and estate teams, tenant farmers, Chatsworth staff, Peak District
National Park rangers and fire fighters, kitted and ready to fight the fire.
The area of Big Moor on-fire was predominantly molinia (purple moor grass) and
bracken with areas of heather, all highly flammable, so the fire spread very
quickly. Water was transported onto site with all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and
ranger teams used high pressure hoses and backpack sprayers to hit the fire
along with traditional fire beaters. As the fire burned quickly across the top
of the flammable vegetation, it was an impossible task to keep the fire back
without the help of the helicopter, which was already on its way to assist. As
soon as the helicopter began to drop water, collected from Little Barbrook pond
upstream, it started to feel like the fight could be won. Meanwhile
fire-fighting crews totally 64 personnel, brought in hoses and pumps to the
stream side of the fire and began the fight to keep the fire from hitting
Barbrook Plantation, a valuable habitat for woodland birds and many other
wildlife species.
By the end of the day the
flames were out on Big Moor and with hot spots appearing to be staying under
control, the fire was deemed safe for the night. Unfortunately, the following morning
the wind had whipped up across the surface of the burn and significant hot
spots had emerged, in places creating flames pushing into the edges of the
heather. All day Eastern Moors staff continued to fight the hot spots and by
the end of the day the fire was again deemed safe and not expected to
re-ignite.
Wednesday was spent
clearing the site of kit and attempting to recover vehicles stuck on the moor!
It was also a day of walking the fire site, plotting the perimeter with a GPS
and walking across areas of the site to assess wildlife and heritage damage. It
was a day of reality after the fading adrenalin that had kept staff working
through the hours in difficult conditions. Burnt amphibians, nests and eggs
were among the casualties immediately obvious. However, with so many small
holes visible in the ground lower than where the fire had crossed the
surface, some animals had found safety deep down in the ground.
Many people were involved
in fighting the fire on Big Moor, just as they are on all the fires across the
UK. Fire-fighters, rangers and wardens, game-keepers, farmers, mountain rescue
volunteers among others; ordinary people doing an extraordinary job. Moorland
fires are dangerous, there is no doubt about it; they are unpredictable, going
where the most flammable vegetation and wind takes them and when on peat, can
burn deep and reappear behind you. Being on the fire site is like nothing else;
even with protective kit such as a face masks and gloves, overalls and eye
shields, the intensity of the heat is terrible, particularly as the very nature
of the wildfires means you are already out in high summer temperatures for
hours on end. The physical action of walking difficult terrain, carrying
backpacks full of water and beating the fire hour after hour is truly
exhausting. It’s only when you finally get home that you realise the extent of
the impact on yourself, and for many people this summer, they have to get up
day after day and repeat the unwelcome experience.
The physical exhaustion of
fighting a moorland fire is twinned with emotional exhaustion. We don’t just
work in these landscapes, they became part of who we are and so a fire feels
like a personal threat. Watching the mammals scurrying across your path as you
head out to a fire site is heart-wrenching enough, but seeing birds such as
meadow pipits and curlew returning to their burnt nests the evening after the
flames have been put out is truly heart-breaking; particularly as they are the
visible representation of the true unseen impact. After the fire and hot-spots were out on Big
Moor, which was thankfully only two days unlike the weeks of burning for Winter
Hill and Arnfield, I walked through Barbrook Plantation, saved from the fire by
the sheer determination and skill of fire-fighters. As I wondered through the
woods I saw a woodcock, pied flycatchers and red deer. It was a treasured
moment experiencing for myself why the aches, tiredness and dirt had been worth
it, to help save the surrounding habitats from damage.
Nature is incredible and whilst
fires around the UK continue to burn, Big Moor is already beginning to repair
itself. Many people speak of the area as
‘greening up nicely’ but unfortunately the main vegetation fighting back is rejuvenated
molinia, purple moor grass which is highly invasive and reduces the chances of
species diversity. In fact as part of the moorland management, the Eastern Moors
Partnership works to reduce the molina on the moor and ironically, a couple of
years earlier, had carried out a controlled burn for this reason, adjacent to
the Big Moor fire. This burn was carried out under strict controlled
conditions, out of bird breeding and in such a way that wildlife is able to
move before the fire reaches them. The area was then sprayed and cut to weaken
the plant’s ability to regrow and the area reseeded with a variety of moorland
plants. Burning grass without these follow on treatments just encourages the
thick molinia, making the area less rich for wildlife. In contrast, the Big
Moor wildfire was uncontrolled, in a time of high fire risk when the area was
extremely dry and highly flammable, was in bird breeding season where moorland
birds were nesting on the ground and had chicks or eggs in nests, and the fire
was able to get underway before fire fighters were on-site. Whereas for the controlled
fire, the surrounding area was dampened down and staff with hoses and beaters
followed the burn, putting it out immediately after it has taken off the surface
vegetation. This way the fire is not able to ‘get away’, is slow in damp
conditions and directed by staff - an altogether different process!
The Eastern Moors team are
devastated by the fire, however they are warmed by the support they have gained
from partnership teams, their tenants and the public. They are forward looking
individuals who pull together to bring positive outcomes wherever possible and
are now looking at how they can bring positives out of a disaster and what the
best course of action is for the future of the burn site. They have since
assessed the fire’s impact on wildlife and heritage and will be continuing to
monitor this as well as taking the opportunity to carry out a full scale
heritage impact survey of the burn site. One thing that is for sure, the red
deer and cattle on the moor are certainly taking it as a positive outcome and
can be regularly seen feeding on the fresh green lawn that the fire has created
for them!
The cost of a wildfire runs
into tens of thousands and is picked up by the land owners and managers. In the
case of the Big Moor fire the cost is estimated to be around £30,000 with
approximately £10,000 of those costs falling directly to the Eastern Moors
Partnership, a joint initiative between two charitable organisations, the
National Trust and RSPB. £5,000 of the cost is for the helicopter which helped
to put out the fire and without which the extent of the devastation would have
been far greater. The Eastern Moors team have been bowled over by the support
received from the public and have been asked by many who felt helpless in the
face of adversity, what they can do to help. There is only so much you can do
in these difficult circumstances and so the partnership has set up a Just
Giving page and are inviting anyone who would like to help, to make a donation.
All money raised will help the partnership to recoup some of the money lost,
which would have been spent on important habitat conservation work on the
moors. Already, with on-line and off-line donations, the fund has raised around
£2000, £1000 of which has come from Totley Athletics Club and the Steel City
Striders, two running groups who want to thank the Eastern Moors Partnership for
protecting the places they love to run.
If you would like to find
out more about the work of the Eastern Moors Partnership please visit our
website at visit-eastern-moors.org.uk and indeed if you would like to donate to
the Big Moor Helicopter Fund, you can do so on our Just Giving page. Please
note the page will be closing soon.
The Eastern Moors team
would like to thank everyone for their continued support.
Katherine Clarke, Visitor Experience Manager, Eastern Moors
