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Flames ravage scenic Dales hillside
Up to 40 firefighters battled for hours to tackle a blaze as it swept across a scenic Dales hillside.
Seven fire engines were at the scene between Starkholmes Road and Riber Road, Matlock, at its height on Saturday evening.
The fire, which started as controlled burning by the landowner, ripped through one-and-a-half acres of gorse, bush and trees, filling the skyline with a plume of smoke.
Firefighters were called at 6.30pm and battled the fire until around 9pm with one crew remaining at the scene overnight to damp down hot spots.
Station manager Alan Richmond, who was incident commander, said: "There was some very hard graft put in by the firefighters on Saturday night.
"It was labour intensive because the nearest water supply we had initially was a hydrant by the Riber Hotel 300 metres away.
"The fire was moving uphill and the gorse, shrub and trees were quite dry.
"Thankfully a dry stone wall was a good fire break."
Firefighters finally left the scene at 10am on Sunday.
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Weather for Chesterfield
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
