LANGDALE MOOR FIRE: Evacuation plans drawn up for Robin Hood’s Bay and Goathland

The fire, which broke out on August 11, had originally been thought to be under control, but rapidly spread over the Bank Holiday Weekend to the North and North-West

Roads surrounding the fire have been closed including the A171 from the Robin Hood’s Bay turn to Cloughton, the B1416 Sneatonthorpe (Dean Hall Brow to A171) and C224 Moorgate, Littlebeck (A169 to U2335 Lousy Hill Lane).

Currently 10 appliances are committed to the incident and this presence is expected to be maintained, alongside a further 10 appliances which have been requested from the National Resilience.

Jonathan Dyson, Chief Fire Officer for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “This is a significant fire for North Yorkshire that requires significant resources, but we have absolute confidence that we will bring this incident to a successful conclusion.

“We also have to be realistic, and as the fire has continued to move across the moors, we have evacuated small scale areas, predominantly holiday home accommodation and we are working on strategies should we need to evacuate areas of population.”

The current situation is described as ‘static’ - the fire is burning but not spreading at this time.

While not necessary at that moment, evacuation plans have been drawn up for Robin Hood’s Bay, Goathland and Fylingthorpe, should the spread of the fire accelerate once again.

North Yorkshire Council said on its Facebook page: “We understand that people in the Whitby and Scarborough area might be concerned about the fire spread and the smoke.

“If you need to evacuate you will be contacted and advised.

“If you do live in areas near to the fire you might want to consider preparing a grab bag in case you need to leave at short notice.

“Consider packing items like medication, insurance documents, glasses and contact lenses, phones and chargers and other items you might need if you have to leave your property at short notice.

“Find out more about items you might need to pack at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/.../protect-yourself-emergency

“If you're visiting the area you may want to think about making plans to leave earlier than planned especially if you're in the area near the smoke or fire.

“Other parts of North Yorkshire are open.”

Efforts to tackle the fire have been exacerbated by the discovery of unexploded ordnance on the site. The area was used as a tank training range during World War Two and to date there have been 18 explosions at the site.

Karl Battersby, Corporate director for environment at North Yorkshire Council said: “We’ve put in place a number of road closures to make sure that the public are safe, but primarily to make sure that the fire service can deal with the incident most effectively.

“We recognise that the A171 is an important strategic link and we apologise for this, but public safety is our number one priority.

“We ask you to respect the fact the road is closed - we are doing so for your safety.

“The A171 will not open until it is safe to do so.

"Once it is safe to do so, we will need to do an inspection of the road where there has been some localised damage caused by plant and equipment which is unavoidable.

“We will have to make sure that we inspect it and do any necessary repairs before we reopen the road, but we want to do that in as timely manner as possible because we realise the significant disruption it causes having it closed.”

Up to date information can be found on the North Yorkshire Council Facebook page.

Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, North Yorkshire Council and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service thanked the farming community for their efforts to help tackle the blaze, and the public for their ongoing support.