Good afternoon

There have been 2 fires recently which appear to have been deliberately ignited round the Winter Hill, and Belmont Road areas of the Smithills and Astley Bridge ward. I attended a fire on scrubland not far from the Wilton Arms Pub on Belmont Road last night. This was a 20x20 metre fire which took well over an hour for fire crews to put out. It goes without saying, campfires, barbecues etc are not permitted in these areas. Be mindful about smoking cigarettes and dispose of them properly, do not flick them mindlessly into scrubland.

These are wildlife reserves, and there is a huge risk of large fires breaking out, as well as the risk to the public and to wildlife which is still recovering from the wildfires we suffered in 2018. 

I am sure we do not want a repeat of these. I worked on that Winter Hill wildfire scene for 2 weeks over the summer of 2018. It was terrifying and something I never want to see repeated.

2 youths were seen near to where the fire was started last night. Both white males, one wearing a red T-shirt and described as being quite young. There were lots of other youths milling around the area and walking back from the hills during this time as the fire was being tackled.

-ASK WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE GOING

-CHECK WHAT THEY ARE TAKING WITH THEM

-ENABLE TRACKING LOCATIONS TO PHONES TO MONITOR YOUR CHILDS WHEREABOUTS IF NEEDS BE

If you see anyone starting a fire, setting a barbecue/fire on open scrubland/Moorland, report it immediately, try and get a precise location and provide car registration details if there are any involved, and if it is safe to do so.

I am hoping that those of us who still engage the use of common sense and a brain, will not need to be reminded of this . . . . 

We all want to enjoy the Moors and Parkland. Lets all do it safely

Thanks.