Derbyshire’s High Peak faces highest risk of deadly wildfires
Derbyshire’s High Peak area faces the highest risk of deadly wildfires in the whole country, according to new analysis.
The Moorland Association put the High Peak at the top of its risk list based on ten criteria including the amount of vegetation, its proximity to homes and the difficulty of evacuating people.
The organisation represents land owners and estate managers and said its members include gamekeepers and farmers who are often the first responders to wildfires.
The league table was shared with MPs after the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee issued a call for evidence which highlighted how a wildfire destroyed 20 homes in Dagenham and Rainham. That constituency ranks 561st on the threat index.
“Climate change is turning our countryside into tinder, and while Scotland has a clear plan to manage the excess vegetation, in England the authorities are obsessed with rewilding and restricting all common sense measures for reducing the fuel load. It is no wonder that the National Fire Chiefs Council has so strongly criticised Defra’s approach,” said Andrew Gilruth, CEO of the Moorland Association.
Firefighters have already tackled a number of wildfires in the Peak District in recent weeks.
Firefighters from Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire were called to extinguish a wildfire at the Snake Pass Summit which broke out on Thursday night.
Fire crews were called to reports of a moorland wildfire off the Woodhead Pass near to Woodhead Reservoir on Wednesday, April 22.
This was the second significant fire on the moorlands within a 24-hour period, with Derbyshire fire crews also called to assist South Yorkshire firefighters with wildfire off the Snake Pass near Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District.
The wildfire near to Woodhead Reservoir affected close to 600,000 sqm of moorland, while the blaze near Ladybower Reservoir saw 200,000 square metres of moorland affected.