Shropshire firefighters tell of moorland blaze challenges
Teams of Shropshire firefighters have been on the front line battling to get a giant grass fire under control.
Glyn Hesbrook, a firefighter from Greenwatch Shrewsbury, spoke of the testing conditions faced by himself and more than 100 colleagues as they joined the fight to put out the huge blaze at Winter Hill, near Bolton.
A total of 100 firefighters are tackling the blaze.
Mr Hesbrook said he and 10 others had been part of the effort, and were to be replaced by another Shropshire team to keep them fresh.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue has committed two fire engines and crews to combat the fire for the week.
Mr Hesbrook said that on Tuesday he and his fellow firefighters were knocking back hot-spots in the area, beating the ground and trying to prevent patches re-igniting.
The crew was working on a fire on an area of about 200 metres by 200 metres.
Mr Hesbrook said: "It has been tough. Yesterday we were trying to contain a fire which is 200 metres by 200 metres but the problem is the conditions. They are very hot conditions and there is the smoke from other fires to worry about."
The Shrewsbury firefighter said it had been the largest incident he had dealt with.
He said: "The amount of resources deployed to it, it is the largest fire I have been to area-wise."
The heat has meant that despite managing to put the fires out, they can easily re-ignite due to the sun and the heat retained in the ground.
Mr Hesbrook said: "It is just the ground, the peat which is quite deep so the heat is in there so it is getting into that and knocking it back, but then the sun comes up and they are springing up again."
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Asked about the dangers posed to the teams tackling the blaze Mr Hesbrook said the team has to be constantly aware of their surroundings.
He said: "On moorland because the fire can spread that quickly if the wind gets up the ground it can cover in a short space of time is quite frightening.
"You have to have your wits about you and make sure there are no fires starting around you."
Jim Barker, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Welfare Officer at the scene, said the team had been faced with very difficult conditions.
He said: "It has been quite challenging. The ground and terrain is a real challenge. It is steep, the roads are quite undulating and rocky so even getting there is a challenge.
"Once you are up there is is like a big marshland but it's bone dry. There are lots of quite thick types of grass but a lot have been burned away and left tufts.
"You put out the fires and 20 minutes later the dry weather dries the water out and it goes up again.
"As soon as the sun gets on it about 10.30am to 11am the fires start springing up again."
Mr Barker said they had managed to get some level of control, stopping the fire spread.
Mr Hesbroook said that the locals had offered them "overwhelming support".
He said: "The help from local people has been absolutely fantastic and overwhelming.
"We have had people stopping us in the streets and thanking us, it is really eye opening and makes us proud to be part of the fire service."
Mr Barker added that the situation was an example of why people should be careful to avoid anything that can start fires in the wild.
He said: "For me it is probably one of the biggest wild fire incidents and it goes to highlight how important it is that in any grass land area people need to be really careful if they are using a barbecue, smoking, just do not do it.
"From the experience of seeing the impact up here it is important people are as careful as possible."
