Firefighters tackle large blaze on Ilkley Moor: Updated
Fire crews have been battling a large blaze on Ilkley Moor.
Crews were called to White Wells on Wells Road shortly before 10.15pm yesterday.
A patch of moorland measuring approximately 200 metres by 100 metres was on fire.
It took around 20 firefighters two hours to bring the flames under control.
No properties were affected and the cause of the fire has yet to be established.
Crews from Otley, Silsden, Rawdon and Keighley were in attendance, with firefighters remaining at the scene until just after 4am.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Assistant District Commander for Bradford, Chris Hannah, said: “It was a difficult fire to fight because it was on a steep banking. Firefighters worked really hard.”
The incident came at the end of the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures in West Yorkshire even outstripping those in Ibiza.
In the summer of 2006, a blaze destroyed 500 acres of moorland between Addingham and Ilkley, during a hot spell. The fire, the worst on Ilkley Moor for 20 years, was believed to have been started deliberately, and council officials estimated it would take more than 20 years for the vegetation to recover.