Wharncliffe Woods Oughtibridge: Firefighters remain at Sheffield forest blaze for third day

Nearly two dozen firefighters were at Wharncliffe Woods, near Oughtibridge, at the height of the blaze, and fire some crews remain on the scene today.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said this morning that most of its fire engines left last night – however the fire is still smouldering so it has three fire engines there this morning.

The fire service has yet to say what they believe caused the as the incident is still on-going.

A spokesman told the Star firefighter were still hosing the area down, and were doing so in difficult circumstances, as access to the area of the woods where the fire started was is limited.

It is just a single track, and crews cannot get the fire engines to the fire, meaning officers have to carry hoses and water. They have a specialist wildfire unit, which operates a type of 4x4 buggy, which helps with the work.

MORE: Sheffield fire: Video shows firefighters battling blaze at Wharncliffe Woods near Oughtibridge

Firefighters were initially called called at 2.10pm on Sunday to the fire, and at its height there were four fire engines and a wildfire unit – around 20 firefighters – involved in tackling it.

The fire comes after firefighters across South Yorkshire last week urged people to be extra careful during the heatwave, and to stop having garden bonfires during the period of extreme heat, refrain from taking disposable BBQs out and to ensure they did not leave rubbish – especially glass bottles – lying around. Glass bottles can magnify the sun’s rays and start fires.

MORE: Crews tackle blaze in Wharncliffe Woods near Oughtibridge as heatwave continues