Doncaster fire crews act to save wildlife as wind blowing Hatfield Moor fire ‘continues to change’

Crews say they have made ‘considerable progress’ at the Hatfield Moors incident, over the last 24 hours, as they work to get the fire fully extinguished.

A specialist helicopter and a number of high volume pumps are in action again today, supporting crews from South Yorkshire, Humberside and a number of other fire services.

Officers today warned people again to close windown and doors if they were being affected by the smoke plume, and urged the public to stay away from Hatfield Moors whilst firefighters do their work. They said the wind direction is continuing to change.

Incident Commander, group manager Spencer Rowland said last night: “It’s been very successful despite the weather conditions the strong winds, the high temperatures, low humidity, and we’re hopeful that we will be here for only a couple or three more days, just because the fires will be deep seated .

“We’ve protected a couple of areas, particularly in the middle of the site, with a very high ecologial value. We’re acutely aware of that and we have special control measures, fire breaks, in there.”

Doncaster Council chief executive Damien Allen visited the site yesterday, as fire crews tried to protect key ecological assets such as Jack’s Piece - a remnant of ancient peatland and a refuge for rare species which has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

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