Peat fire devastates bird habitat

At its height 50 firefighters were battling the blaze at Thorne Moors National Nature Reserve in South Yorkshire, which is thought to have started outside the protected site but spread quickly through the peat.

The moorland is the largest area of lowland raised bog habitat in the country and is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.

It is also one of only 10 Special Protection Areas for the nightjar, a ground-nesting bird that breeds during June and July, and the furthest north.

Natural England senior reserve manager Kevin Bull said the damage to the land was "heartbreaking".

He said: "The peat is in a fairly dry condition and the strong winds meant the fire took control quickly.

"Between 80 and 100 acres of prime peatland habitat have been

destroyed, leaving part of the site looking desolate. It's heartbreaking. However, the fire crews quickly had nine pumps and 50 crew on site and have done a sterling job, to try to bring the fire under control.

"Natural England volunteers and local farmers have also been helping and we're very thankful for their support.

"We will be extremely interested to find out how this happened and provide any advice we can to minimise the risk of it ever happening again."

A Natural England spokeswoman said there was concern the fire may spread south and further into the reserve.

She said: "Water is being used from the reserve drains to try to bring the fire under control.

"Ground nesting birds including nightjar have now fledged but the concern is for the damaged habitat. The fire has destroyed the top layer of vegetation, prime heather and cotton grass. Natural England has been working very closely with the fire crews to help fight the fire and advise on the geography of the site."

The terrain proved difficult for fire crews, who were forced to use lightweight vehicles.

A spokesman for the Humberside fire service said it called in crews from a wide area to tackle the fire, which was first reported at the Swinefleet Peat Works, near Goole, just before 4pm on Sunday.

He said: "A large amount of smoke was generated by the fire.

"Peat cutting ceased at the site some time ago but it is believed to be still in use as a storage depot for peat from Europe, on its way into the UK garden fertiliser business, and it appeared last night that it was a large area of stored peat which had caught fire. Peat is coal in formation and used to be burned as a fireplace fuel.

"Fire crews had difficulty getting to the heart of the blaze because the land around it is so boggy and were having to call in lighter 4x4 vehicles to work from."

The Humberhead Peatlands reserve comprises of Thorne, Goole, and Crowle Moors, as well as Hatfield Moor and it represents the largest area of raised bog wilderness in lowland Britain at 2,887 hectares in size.

The site is a Special Area of Conservation for its habitat which supports more than 5,000 species of plants and animals, of which more than 4,000 are insects.

There is a sizable population of adders on the Moors and more than 200 bird species have been recorded.

The nightjar hunts flying insects and is a master of camouflage.

It is almost invisible on the ground, either at the nest or when it roosts in dry bracken.