Pub closes amid safety fears
8:49pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in News By Dale Haslam
Firefighters tackle huge moorland fire
FIREFIGHTERS are battling into the night to control a fire on moorland in Belmont.
At about 6.40pm on Tuesday, three appliances attended the Wilton Arms in Belmont Road to deal with the fire on land behind the pub.
Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles around and fire officers told neighbours it could be some time before they got the fire under control.
It is not known what started the blaze, though people living nearby said it was not unusual for people to carry out controlled burning of heather and that activity could have spiralled out of control.
The Wilton Arms's duty manager, Nathan Barber, said: "Our building has been unaffected, but the smoke from the fire can be seen from miles around.
"The fire started off towards the Halliwell side of the pub, but we are not sure what could have caused it.
"We have been given advice from the fire service about safety and asked our customers to leave as a precaution. We have closed for the night."
One applicance from Farnworth Fire Station, another from Bolton North Fire Station and another from Darwen Fire Station attended the scene last night.
Crews at neighbouring stations, including Bolton Central, were ordered to remain on standby incase the fire spread even further.
The fire had a knock-on effect to traffic on Belmont Road, as motorists slowed to get a view of the plumes of smoke bellowing from the moorland.
Police blocked off part of Belmont Road around the pub at about 8pm to allow firefighters adequate access.
A Greater Manchester Fire Service spokesman said: "These kinds of fire are usually quite common around April or May when the ground is very dry.
"They are quite unusual for March, but we have had to deal with dozens of them in the last week.
"Some of them are cases of deliberate ignition where kids are going on to open land and starting fires now the nights are turning lighter.
"We have had no rain in the last couple of weeks, which makes the ground dry and ideal for spreading fire quickly."
