International 🔥 6,178 acres on fire in North Yorkshire. 🚒

[650lb Sumo]

Preamble

Surprisingly neither @Croo67 nor @Siver! have posted this story, which has been going for 16 days. It's also near me for once, and I happen to be reading Red Watch by Gordon Honeycombe

so I thought it merited an exception to my non-War Room posting policy. Will tidy up and add some more details later. You have to choose a flair so I chose 'International' because it seems to fit the best, although it doesn't fit well.

Spoiler: Links

Farmers help firefighters as moorland fire continues to burn

Farmers and the wider community are working, often at their own risk, to assist fire crews.

www.bbc.co.uk

Video of Langdale Moor fire blazing as public urged to respect road closures caused by billowing smoke

Watch this incredible video footage of the Langdale Moor fire, which has reignited and caused multiple road closures.

www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk

Woodsmith Mine staff evacuated as Langdale Moor wildfire enters third week

Roads are closed as North York Moors National Park warns people to avoid the area "at all costs".

www.bbc.co.uk

Langdale Moor fire in North York Moors continues for 16th day - LIVE

Welcome Welcome to our live blog. You join us as a major wildfire in North York Moors, which started two weeks ago, continues to spread. If you…

www.yorkpress.co.uk

Incident Update – Langdale Moor Fire - North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service

Please scroll down for the latest updates last updated 22nd December 2025 —————————————————————————————————- 11:00am 12 August 2025 We are currently on scene at a fire in Langdale End Moor, near RAF Fylingdales. There are 7 fire appliances in attendance, and crews are expected to remain on site...

www.northyorksfire.gov.uk

Story

Emergency services have been battling the blaze on Langdale Moor, in the North York Moors National Park, since Monday 11 August.

According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, seven appliances remained at the scene on Wednesday morning and it is continuing to urge people to avoid the area.

Farmers, gamekeepers and the wider community have been out day and night to assist the fire service in trying to bring the blaze under control.

The fire service said work was continuing to try and prevent the fire from spreading further in the national park and while no properties have been affected some areas, including the Grouse Hill Caravan Park, were evacuated on Tuesday.

A number of roads in the area, including the A171 at Fylingthorpe, which is the main road between Scarborough and Whitby, have been closed

A spokesperson for the fire service said the road closures were due to the large amount of smoke in the area.

[There is smoke in town in Whitby. However there's also a thunderstorm - some of the first significant rain in the area for months.]

The fire has also prompted concerns for livestock, and Karen Yeoman from Borrowby Equestrian Centre near Thirsk has stepped in to offer help.

"We are offering stabling, hay, straw, water and exercise areas for any horses that are directly in the smokestream or at risk from the fire."

She said she could not imagine what horse owners might be going through as the smoke from the blaze continued to blanket huge areas.

"Horses have very large lungs and the small particles in the smoke can penetrate deep in the airways and settle and cause all sorts of problems."

Ms Yeoman said a neighbour took in 13 horses on Tuesday and she took in six and is expecting more on Wednesday.

Technique for Peat Fires

Heavy machinery has been deployed and is currently being used in great numbers to dig deep trenches to create fire breaks as shown in the video. The fire service with staff coming from far and wide are working with gamekeepers and farmers who are continuously cutting and wetting down areas on the frontline. This is a massive task as the amount of smoke in the air is making visibility really difficult.

Rain is appearing but this will not be a quick fix, it will help dampen down the top fuel load, but it is the burning peat underground that will take some halting.

Fire Brigade Update

27th August 1300

We have 10 appliances at the scene currently and continue working with partners. A helicopter is also in use at the scene.


Videos

 

[Siver!]

North Yorkshire Langdale moor fire fighters face exploding WWII ordinance

The area was used for tank training and sunken shells have exploded, a senior firefighter says.

www.bbc.com

Exploding WW2 bombs is an interesting development...

Sad times.

 

[650lb Sumo]

North Yorkshire Langdale moor fire fighters face exploding WWII ordinance

The area was used for tank training and sunken shells have exploded, a senior firefighter says.

www.bbc.com

Exploding WW2 bombs is an interesting development...

Sad times.

The Luftwaffe dropped a lot of bombs there when they had to turn back before reaching their targets (Teesside or Tyne and Wear for instance - bounced by British fighters, engine trouble etc.), or couldn't find them. It's a safe empty place to drop them (so you can fly further/faster/on less fuel).

I was told a story from an older generation of how someone went out for a walk on the moors on a summer evening a few years after the war with his dog, and when they were on the way home in the gloaming the dog was glowing, as it had paddled around in bomb craters with rainwater in, and the white phosphorous in the incendiary bombs had mixed with the rainwater and coated the dog.

This story bears a suspicious resemblance to a feature of the plot of The Hound of the Baskervilles so who knows.

Edit: Maybe they thought they were over the target some of the time as well. Everything would be blacked-out after all.

 

[Siver!]

The Luftwaffe dropped a lot of bombs there when they had to turn back before reaching their targets (Teesside or Tyne and Wear for instance - bounced by British fighters, engine trouble etc.), or couldn't find them. It's a safe empty place to drop them (so you can fly faster / on less fuel).

I was told a story from an older generation of how someone went out for a walk on the moors on a summer evening a few years after the war with his dog, and when they were on the way home in the gloaming the dog was glowing, as it had paddled around in bomb craters with rainwater in, and the white phosphorous in the incendiary bombs had mixed with the rainwater and coated the dog.

This story bears a suspicious resemblance to a feature of the plot of The Hound of the Baskervilles so who knows.

Woah... that's crazy. Frightening, too.

Thank goodness we didn't have landmines everywhere.

 

[KnightTemplar]

It's been an exceptionally hot and dry summer by UK standards. There was a fire on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh's Holyrood Park on the 11th of August. You could see the smoke across the city. Firefighters were still there at least a week later, dampening the ground to make sure it didn't reignite.

 

[syct23]

It's been an exceptionally hot and dry summer by UK standards. There was a fire on Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh's Holyrood Park on the 11th of August. You could see the smoke across the city. Firefighters were still there at least a week later, dampening the ground to make sure it didn't reignite.

No, no, no,

WWII Bombs. That’s a better story arc

 

[Natural Order]

Man did this!