Controlled burns warning as fire calls outs rise

1 hour ago

Samantha JaggerNorth East and Cumbria

Cumbria Fire Service is urging people to postpone carrying out controlled burns on land until it becomes cooler and wetter

Cumbria Fire Service A patch of land which has been scorched and there is a black patch of ashes. It is on countryside land and in the distance there is a Cumbria Fire and Rescue appliance which a firefighter is exiting from. — Cumbria Fire Service is urging people to postpone carrying out controlled burns on land until it becomes cooler and wetter

A fire service is urging landowners to hold off having controlled burns after having to put out several that got out of control.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said since Friday, crews extinguished five controlled burns - a technique involving burning old, dry vegetation in the hope of lessening the risk of wildfires.

Station manager Dean Readman said some of his crews were still fighting wildfires in Wales, with others stretched to breaking point this summer as blazes spread across parts of the UK.

The service said while it understood controlled burns were used to manage sites, it asked people to postpone burns until cooler, wetter weather arrives as the ground was "still very dry".

It also urged people to avoid parking on dry grass which exhausts can ignite, dispose of cigarettes carefully and avoid using disposable barbecues and campfires.

On Friday firefighters extinguished a small fire in Lady Hall near Millom.

On Monday crews put out two controlled burns near Lupton Reservoir and near Threlkeld and a small fire in Sewell Road, Carlisle.

On Tuesday Penrith crews attended two controlled burns at Underskiddaw near the A591.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Cumbria on BBC Sounds.