Firefighters spend six hours tackling huge blaze on Marsden Moor

An investigation into the cause of a huge fire near Marsden Moor is to get underway after firefighters spent six grueling hours tackling the blaze.

The alarm was raised just after midday today (Saturday) after a National Trust volunteer who was out on the moorland and spotted the blaze and rang 999.

A total of 14 fire engines and specialist units were scrambled to the scene, close to the Yorkshire border with Saddleworth, with crews setting up base at Marsden Cricket Club.

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Smoke could be seen billowing up off the moors for miles away as the sound of sirens echoed across the landscape.

From there, firefighters then had a half an hour yomp over the moorland to reach the scene of the fire. At its height, it covered an area of covered an area of 800m by 1000m.

It did not break out on the National Trust's Marsden Moor estate but on land adjacent to Blakeley Reservoir, commonly known as Butterley Moor, owned by Yorkshire Water.

The company said firefighters used water from the reservoir, which does not feed into the public supply but is used to top up rivers. The fire service said specialist wildfire teams used blowers and beaters to get the fire under control.

Just before 6pm the fire was declared out with just a small number of firefighters left on the moors damping down.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Incident Commander Matt Wolski was full of praise for the work of his firefighters and confirmed the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

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Mr Wolski said of the volunteer's alert: "Her call allowed us to get resources here as quickly as