I've added some photos to my web site of yesterday's major wildfire on
Dartmoor - http://maninthebackcountry.weebly.co...pril-2011.html

Thankfully the fire was halted by fire beaters and helicopter water
drops about 0.5mile from my tent!

The speed of progression of the front edge was alarming. I suspect you
would have struggled to have outrun it. Without intervention I suspect
this huge fire would have made it as far as Postbridge.

A short synopsis is available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-13182629

Man in the Back Country

"Man in the Back Country" wrote in message
...
I've added some photos to my web site of yesterday's major wildfire on
Dartmoor -
http://maninthebackcountry.weebly.co...pril-2011.html

Thankfully the fire was halted by fire beaters and helicopter water
drops about 0.5mile from my tent!

The speed of progression of the front edge was alarming. I suspect you
would have struggled to have outrun it. Without intervention I suspect
this huge fire would have made it as far as Postbridge.

A short synopsis is available from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-13182629

Man in the Back Country

OMG I've only just got back!

I did mention a fire risk too last week in my forecast!
Forecast for the period Saturday 16th April to Tuesday 26th April issued on
Friday 15th April.

I will not be issuing a forecast next week so this forecast goes through the
Easter period.

" Confidence is very high for mainly dry weather throughout this period
right through Easter. No frost. Moderate confidence on any detail of cloud
and temperature. Ground will remain dry and firm with the boggy bits
continuing to harden up. Increasing fire risk next week. "

Spooky.

Will
--

On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:20:36 -0700 (PDT), Man in the Back Country
wrote:

Thankfully the fire was halted by fire beaters and helicopter water
drops about 0.5mile from my tent!

Looks like no more than a bit of normal heather burning from the size
of the smoke plume. I'd have unpitched the tent and made for a get
away if I was downwind from such a fire.

The speed of progression of the front edge was alarming. I suspect you
would have struggled to have outrun it.

Run through it, the flame front is quite narrow and behind there is
little really burning as your photos of the aftermath show. The loose
surface dry grass and heather has gone but it's hardly marked the
stuff close to the ground. Obviously pick your point to go through
where the flames are smallest...

--
Cheers Dave.
Nr Garrigill, Cumbria. 421m ASL.

As I live right under the bit of moor you refer to I was very interested to read your post Man of the Back Country, and so thanks for the pics.

However, it is a great shame that, unlike other Dartmoor Commoners Associations, Chagford's have neglected their swailing duties for many years now - so those of us who care about the environmental management of the moor have to rely on people such as these army cadets inadvertantly starting wildfires. There was a presumably inadvertant wildfire on Meldon Hill back in March which cleared alot of the gorse forest up there.

1 mile northeast of Kit Rocks is in deep moorland, and would place it roughly north of Sittaford Tor. I was up there yesterday and you get a huge vista of the moor to the north and southwards to Postbridge. Yet there was no sign of scorched moorland, so I must assume that this "major wildfire" happened in a fold of the land beyond one of the ridges to the north.

Because this wildfire happened in the middle of the day I guess some busybody must have reported it which is why we had the scandalous situation of huge amounts of taxpayers money being wasted on the emergency services response. Heaven knows why they didn't just monitor it from a distance and let it run its course. As another poster has suggested these fires are low intensity, and in this part of the deep moor there is just tussock grass and many streams, not to mention the East Dart, forming natural firebreaks.

I doubt it very much that it would have reached Postbridge, but wish it had. It wouldn't have done any damage.

But many thanks for the informative post anyway.

"John Perryman" wrote in
message ...

I doubt it very much that it would have reached Postbridge, but wish it
had. It wouldn't have done any damage.


That's nice. Postbridge is an old and lovely moorland community.
The moor is once again very dry though not tinder dry as it was back in
April.

Will (Haytor, Dartmoor)
--

Postbridge is certainly a very nice community, so would never wish it any harm.
Another day of often simultaneous sunshine and very light showers on the northeast moor today, ("tenkiame" as they say in Japan for this phenomenon). One of my favourite weathers. But a few good downpours or ideally days of heavy rain would cheer up the moor no end.