Dartmoor wildfires 'still a threat' as authority urges visitors to take care
Fire risks remain across Dartmoor following a particularly dry summer, with the National Park Authority urging visitors to behave responsibly and backing new wildfire measures
Dartmoor remains vulnerable to potentially devastating fires despite recent rainfall, the moor’s guardians have been told.
A major social media campaign was launched at the height of summer, calling on Dartmoor’s thousands of visitors to take greater care over potential fire risks.
The Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) bans the use of disposable barbecues, open campfires and camping stoves across its open moorland.
Park rangers conduct regular patrols and have put up prominent signs to reinforce the rules.
As temperatures soared during what was described as the moor’s driest summer on record, visitors were encouraged to bring a cold picnic instead.
Warnings were also issued about dropping cigarette ends or discarding glass bottles.
The Government introduced a temporary ban on the sale of disposable barbecues during heatwave and drought conditions to help protect landscapes such as Dartmoor.
However, a meeting of the DNPA heard calls for a complete ban.
The authority’s chief executive, Tom Surrey, said the call was being made across the UK’s “family” of 15 national parks.
A Dartmoor Wildfire Plan forms part of the moor’s Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) project, with more than 110 kilometres of firebreaks created across Dartmoor as part of a range of new measures.
Authority member Guy Pannell told the meeting: “It is almost a miracle that we haven’t had a major fire on the moor this summer.”
But authority chair Will Dracup said: “The moor is still incredibly dry and the fire risk is still very much there. People still need to behave very responsibly.”
James Wright, who manages the Dartmoor FiPL project, said his team was looking at ways of supporting the moor’s farming community, which had been hit by a series of setbacks including the Covid pandemic and the recent outbreak of bluetongue virus.
Hundreds of animals, mainly sheep, have been reported dead across Devon, which is said to be the county worst affected by the virus.
FiPL projects include one aimed at getting children out on to the moor to learn about farms and food production.
Elsewhere, a wheelchair-accessible trail has been created at Brimpts Farm near Dartmeet, while a dry stone walling competition has brought some of the country’s top craftspeople to the moor.
“The project is really making quite a substantial difference to Dartmoor as a place,” said Mr Dracup.