North Yorkshire firefighters faced welfare pressures during 40-day moor fire

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 10 Oct, 16:19 · Archive

A 40-day moor fire in North Yorkshire in August placed significant pressure on firefighters' welfare and availability.

The Langdale and Fylingdales Moor fire, which started on August 11 last year, burned for more than 40 days and at its height covered nearly 10 square miles. A fire investigation found it was likely caused by someone cooking using a campfire or gas burner.

A review of the fire response has found that the incident placed significant pressure on senior officers, full-time firefighters, on-call crews and volunteers. The report acknowledges the exceptional commitment of on-call firefighters but says extended deployments began to affect their main jobs and their availability for other emergency duties. Questions have been raised about expectations for firefighters to continue working beyond their normal shifts.

The findings reveal wider concerns about the availability of on-call firefighters across North Yorkshire, particularly in rural communities where fire stations rely heavily on personnel who have other jobs. Recruiting and retaining sufficient on-call firefighters remains a major challenge, with employment commitments, training requirements and difficulties filling specialist roles all contributing to the problem. The fire service has been advised to develop better arrangements for relieving and rotating crews during lengthy incidents to protect staff welfare and maintain emergency cover.

How it is being reported

• Huge moor fire put firefighters under pressure as crews battled blaze for 40 daysFylingdales Moor fire report warns North Yorkshire firefighters faced welfare pressures and staffing shortages after the blaze burned for more than 40 days.York Press · 10 Oct, 16:00
• Huge moor fire put firefighters under pressure as crews battled blaze for 40 daysFylingdales Moor fire report warns North Yorkshire firefighters faced welfare pressures and staffing shortages after the blaze burned for more than 40 days.Gazette & Herald (Malton) · 10 Oct, 16:00

In this story: North Yorkshire · Langdale Moor · Fylingdales Moor · York and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel

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