Heavy rain overnight has helped firefighters who were tackling a large moorland blaze near Dove Stone Reservoir in Oldham, which broke out yesterday (Tuesday).
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service say the rainfall has helped to extinguish the fire and they are continuing to monitor the situation with hot spots located in the moor.
In an update at 8am, they said: "Heavy rain has assisted firefighters tackling a large moorland fire near Dove Stone Reservoir, Oldham.
"Throughout the night, heavy rain has helped to extinguish the fire, which firefighters were originally called to at around 2.20pm on June 2.
"A wildfire officer remains on the scene monitoring the situation, with a number of deep seated located. The rain is forecast to continue this morning and once it stops an assessment will be made on what fire services resources are needed at the scene."
Such was the size of the fire, representatives from Northwest Ambulance Service, Oldham Mountain Rescue Service, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, West Yorkshire Fire Brigade Wildfire Officer and United Utilities, as well as Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, were on the moors on Tuesday evening.
Additional fire crews and resources were summoned to the scene to back up the operation into the night, with the scale of the fire believed to be approximately 600m by 600m.
Oldham Mountain Rescue Team said they provided navigational assistance and medical cover for the firefighting teams, with 18 members involved for just over seven hours in total.
They said: "Late on Tuesday afternoon, the team deployed to Dovestones to support Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) who were tackling a large wildfire in the Ashway area. OMRT provided navigational assistance and medical cover for the firefighting teams on the moor, with the last personnel coming off the hill as darkness fell.
"Fortunately, when we returned at first light, there had been heavy rainfall overnight which had helped significantly to dampen the fireground, leaving only isolated hotspots. The decision was made to stand the Team down, leaving GMFRS to monitor the situation. A true multi-agency operation, involving OMRT, GMFRS, Greater Manchester Police, North West Ambulance Service, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (Official), United Utilities, RSPB Dovestone and others. 18 OMRT personnel were involved for just over 7 hours in total."
The Oldham mountain rescue crew also took this image which shows what they had to deal with on the moors.
These images below, from our photographer Nigel Wood on Tuesday afternoon at around 5pm, show the scale of the blaze that crews had to deal with.
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