and then a 52 seat coach turns up at 9.50pm and 52 people from Slough get out (aged between 6 and 86) to go stargazing on the first cloudy night round here since the last Ice Age.
They went on a walk up to Millstone and back instead and then Colin McRae drifted his 52 seater Lancia Delta back in to the car park. Then they left.
It needed to be an episode of Phoenix Nights.
Then as we were locking the gate we saw some blue lights driving slowly on the opposite side of the valley. We went for a look see.
‘Hello, we’re the local rangers’, said we. Within the next 45 minutes we had offered our help to the police, deployed a drone, found a deer, found the at risk missing person, driven the police cross country to within 100m of said person, driven everyone back to the road, and offered our phone numbers to the police officers in case they ever need three slightly strange blokes in the dark with a very capable drone and a great deal of local knowledge and an odd sense of humour.
We may well have helped save a life.
Then it was the early minutes of Saturday and we just got back on with doing what we voluntarily do ….
We received a report and a photo from a witness of a couple having a BBQ on the moor at Totley Air Shaft. As soon as we arrived, a male (aka the one in the photo) walked straight up nose to nose with me and told me he ‘didn’t have a BBQ’. By his feet were cherry tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. In his hand was a bag with two paper plates stained with bbq residue . When we exited the moor he stood and argued with and filmed three rangers for 20 mins, adamant that he never had a bbq. Had he admitted it and apologised and cleared up and left it would have been a 10 minute issue. But because his partner was there it turned in to some perverse masculinity fuelled denial of fact. We ‘haven’t heard the end of it’, apparently. It was like some sort of Viz ‘barbecue denier’ character.
We reunited an elderly dementia sufferer with her husband. She was found walking up the road with her dog amidst traffic chaos. Kind campervaners loaned them blankets and deckchairs. We updated and then called off the police search and a ranger followed their car home to make sure they got their safely. In a night of hostility and stupidity, that was a gem of human kindness and great work by the ranger team.
Last night was awful. Thousands and thousands of people giving no consideration whatsoever to where they parked, access for public transport, farmers or other visitors, nor the damage to the environment. The crowds from 10pm until nigh on 2am for the meteor shower took those issues to the extreme. Thousands of unthinking, inconsiderate social-media hypnotised lemmings. A large number were also rude and or confrontational. From about 11pm there seemed to be a focussed social media driven stampede with droves of people arriving, abandoning vehicles and following a dot on their phone screens regardless of sense, reason or law.
Probably my least enjoyable volunteer rangering day ever.
Possibly the busiest night in recent history. Didn’t see a single ranger from the National Trust or the National Park 🧐
Facebook reckons the fire in the Burbage Valley was started by a barbecue. I was the fourth person there (after Isaac and two firefighters) at what i think was about 40 minutes after it was first reported to the emergency services. I stayed there for 7 hours fighting it and helping co-ordinate the response. I didn’t see anyone called Facebook. Along with experienced colleagues we found no cause of the fire – no barbecue, no glass bottle, no campfire, no natural cause. No fairies.
We believe the fire to have been started deliberately.
Sorry Facebook.
Saturday 8th August
1201hrs – A walker called Isaac was on the flanks of Carl Wark and saw smoke coming from the wood below him.
Isaac – view from Carl Wark 1201hrs
Not being local he didn’t know if there was a cottage or charcoal burning in there. After a few minutes he set off (through chest high bracken, over a beck, over a fence and through thick woodland) to find out. At speed.
1206hrs – Nick, the local farmer, spoke to walkers at Burbage North that had observed smoke in the valley below. He then rang me. In a typically Nick way he asked me ‘if i knew Burbage was alight’ in the sort of way someone would ask you if you knew there was 20p off a pint of milk in the Co-op. ‘I didn’t’, i replied with fake nonchalance.
1207hrs – I sent this message to the Eastern Moors (EMP) rangers group ….
(*Scotland is the name we give a part of the woodland – it was originally intended to look like a map of the British Isles – it transpired that the fire was actually further south)
….. then slid down the pole into the bat mobile.
1214hrs – Isaac got to the fire site. Some fallen trees and the forest floor were alight. He called 999.
Isaac – scene when he arrived 1214hrs
For some reason the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) were, i think, wrongly directed by their Control to Lady Cannnings and then to Higger Tor.
1220hrs – Nick rang me and said FRS were aware but were having trouble getting in to the valley from the south.
I was making my way to the south access to the valley (aka Toads Mouth) at a ‘reasonable speed’.
On my way i rang Phil a colleague ranger and a drone ninja. Situational awareness is a game changer. He got sorted and headed in.
As i arrived i saw a FRS chap literally about to use a grinder to saw off the access barrier. We had a few words conversation and i unlocked and opened the barrier and 2 FRS tenders went up the valley and stopped at the junction above Packhorse Bridge. I hitched a lift up the valley on a passing tractor then ran down to the woodland.
1240 – There was a Scotty Pack (a 20 litre water bladder rucksack used for wildfires) by the gate, i shouldered it and went in to the woodland. I had a brief chat to Nick at the gate who said the FRS were struggling to find the fire – it’s easy on the hillside to see the smoke but less so when fighting through trees looking for it.
hastily recorded words on the way in
1244 – found it and found Isaac. There was a FRS operator just weighing up the fire and giving early reports back to their control.
Location
The fire was started near to an area we know well and call the ‘dog leg’ where the plantation ‘has a chunk missing’. The clearing has the Burbage Beck to the south, tall old conifer to the fringes and north, and then new growth birch around that. The fire was in the old conifers ‘top right’ of the clearing.
Scene
The FRS operator didn’t seem too bothered at that time. There was smoke and flame but nothing too alarming. The fire was up to about head height and going nowhere quickly. The south westerly wind at that time was only reaching the tree tops and not fanning the fire at floor level. It was clearly apparent where the fire had started e.g. the most south westerly burnt bit.
There was an excellent plan – which was hastily put in to place – to pump water from Burbage Brook direct to hoses on the fire. Some hard graft followed as did the delivery of more pumps and hoses and a reservoir, but this early initiative allowed the FRS to get good volumes of water on to the fire and not have to arse around with Scotty Packs. Gamechanger.
first drone video of the fire site early on in the incident
first thermally imaged video of the fire site early on in the incident
1300hrs ish – the wind strengthened and blew through the woodland at floor level. The fire front travelled quicker and pushed the fire towards the last few tall old conifers to the north. And up they went. Like forty foot fireworks.
There was a photo from this time that appeared on the Sheffield Star online. The crown of the trees were alight. Looked quite serious.
Sheffield Star photo. Not AI.
At ground level there were some ‘fucking big flames’, but the fire seemed to be going upwards and not outwards.
Up to that point the FRS plan was working well with the available resources. They then requested available crews from other stations.
Two colleagues from EMP were up at Tintwistle helping locate and extinguish residual hotspots from that weeks long fire. At the outbreak of this fire they made best haste back. Other volunteer rangers helped to close the valley to recreational users as additional assets rolled in.
Phil was tasked to fly over the wider woodland with a thermal drone and make sure the wind hadn’t carried anything from the blazing tree crowns out in to the wider area causing multiple ignition points.
Several years ago when many of the conifers were felled and the birch saplings planted somebody somewhere decided not to plant the birch right up to the old conifers. We owe them a cup of tea.
1330hrs ish – a Whatsapp message was received from the local farming community offering their help and also passing the message that the local gamekeeper estates were also asking if they could be of assistance. Although they were asked to remain on ‘standby’ at that time, knowing that the wider land management community had our back and could bring skilled, experienced and equipped wildfire fighters to help was a significant boost. Thank you.
1344hrs ish – by this time a few of the conifers were toast but, miraculously the change in fuel type (from very flammable old conifer to far greener and far more fire resistant birch) effectively closed the door on the fire. A photo at this time shows a markedly different and less alarming scene. A few pockets of low flame and a smoking woodland floor.
The positive impact of the fuel change was further increased by the FRS hosing hundreds and hundreds of litres on to the W, N and E flanks of the fire.
The FRS Polaris and EMP ArgoCat 4×4 vehicles also drove in to the woodland to provide additional support and water volume.
I walked round the site and mapped the area at about 200m circumference. It was mapped later by drone at 0.14 hectares or 1400 square metres.
1430hrs ish – Hotspotting is the term given to using a thermal drone and handheld thermal imagers to inspect the fire site for hotspots. FRS and rangers would then soak the area. This went on for about 2.5hrs. The ability to pump water from the brook and turn the area in to a sodden charred ‘porridge’ was a gamechanger.
One amusing episode here was finding a hotspot of 110c 30ft up a tree. Two FRS hoses made short work of it.
1530hrs ish – a colleague ranger dropped a bag of cola, chocolate and crisps in our Argocat. Having missed lunch this was much appreciated. Cheers Craig.
drone video of the fire site late on in the incident
thermally imaged video of the fire site late on in the incident
1800hrs ish – FRS personnel and rangers sat in the fire site and had sandwiches, cakes and drinks that the FRS had purchased. Thank you for sharing.
1900hrs ish – FRS and EMP rangers left the site. We headed back to the ranger base and shovelled chips in to our mouths before heading back out for the evening patrol.
2140hrs – EMP flew a thermal drone over the site. The entire fire surface had cooled to below 17c. Testimony to hotspotting and flooding it for hours to remove any risk whatsoever of residual hotspots ….
2221hrs – Our thermal drone found three males in Burbage woodland within a few hundred metres of the earlier fire. They were observed gathering wood and piling it near their tent.
The drone main beam was turned on them and the Land Manager informed them (through the drone speaker) that their actions were unacceptable and in breach of the Public Space Protection Order and that they were to pack up and leave immediately. They did. They were spoken to (face to face) by rangers at the car park.
Photo 1 – Looking west – Possibly the start of the longest spell of rain in something like 10 weeks. Due to fall until lunchtimeish tomorrow.
Photo 2 – Looking east – A rainbow over the city and smoke visible in several places. South Yorkshire FRS are currently dealing with fires at Wharncliffe Woods, near the old ski slope and on Harthill Rd.
It is undoubtedly the case that most UK wildfires are anthropogenic. Caused either by deliberate malice, unthinking and inappropriate activities or chance. Naturally ignited fires are rare and hard to identify, and ignition sources such as lightning strikes, though well documented in continental Europe and North America, are hard to confirm in the UK.
One of the key themes out of ‘Skoda-gate’ has been the renewed spotlight shone on the desperate need for a sustainable income model for all Protected Landscapes including @peakdistrictnationalpark.
One of the ways the National Park attempts to generate a small amount of income is by working with businesses, organisations and brands and helping them find locations for commercial photography, filming, videography, drone filming and social media content. After all if those clients went to a photography studio they’d have to pay for the use thereof.
The process for the Peak is really simple and has been that way for almost 20 years … you think ‘ooooh wouldn’t our new Summer jacket look bloody gorgeous filmed against a backdrop of purple heather’, so you click on the PDNPA website, type ‘filming’ in to the search bar and then scroll down to see what is required then you get on the blower and sort it all out. Pay a relatively small sum of money, get permission, sort dates, shoot your content.
Bob is, as they say, your Aunties live in lover’.
Or don’t. Just don’t bother. And then wank on and on about sustainability on your website and loving the outdoors and caring for nature and how your products practically auto-forest bathe their owner … and post your content filmed in the Peak District anyway. And go to bed that night chuffed to bits that you got what you wanted and got one over on the National Park and saved your business a small amount of money.
And when the media desk at the National Park email you just say ‘soz mate didn’t know’
Then do it again for the next seasons must have fashions. And don’t bother contributing to the upkeep of the Park.
And when the media desk at the National Park email again you just say ‘soz mate didn’t know’
Then do it again for the next seasons must have fashions. And don’t bother contributing to the upkeep of the Park.
And when the media desk at the National Park email you again just say ‘soz mate didn’t know’
N.B. wildfires are very dangerous. Answering some questions online doesn’t qualify you as a firefighter !!
•If you see fire in the open dial 📞999 immediately and ask for the 🚒 •Give as accurate a location as possible using @what3words •Never put yourself at unnecessary risk.
I absolutely get the need for an injection of funds in to @peakdistrictnationalpark but this is horrible. If anybody else did that you would jump all over them. It also partially obscures the exit from the car park for vehicles travelling west – i ‘look forward’ to the position of the sign being cited as a cause for an RTC.
102 years ago Ethel Haythornthwaite campaigned to have this countryside (that became the National Park) free from the unnecessary impact of advertising hoardings and visual pollution. We don’t seem to have got very far since.
@skodauk well done on an advertising campaign that defaces the original National Park. I hope you’re proud.
