Langdale Moor wildfire

Langdale Moor wildfire
Part of The 2025 United Kingdom wildfires
Date(s)	11 August 2025 – 18:30 – (GMT)
Location	Langdale Moor, North Yorkshire, England
Coordinates	54°21′N 0°39′W / 54.35°N 0.65°W / 54.35; -0.65
Statistics[1]
Land use	Moorland
Ignition
Cause	Unknown
Map
Location of the fire

The Langdale Moor wildfire started on the evening of 11 August 2025, on Langdale Moor near RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, England. The fire continued to spread over the following days, with resources for fighting the fire pulled in from across the county and with support from neighbouring fire and rescue services. Smoke has been detected up to 130 kilometres (80 mi) from the moors.

The North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (NYF&RS) was first called out to the site of the fire at 18:30 on 11 August 2025.^[2] The fire crews created a firebreak, but by Tuesday morning (the 12 August), they found the fire had jumped the firebreak and covered an area of 300 square metres (3,200 sq ft), which by the afternoon of the same day, covered an area of 1-square-kilometre (0.39 sq mi).^[3] By 13 August, the fire covered an estimated area of 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi) with 20 fire crews were in attendance; the fire was declared a major incident.^[4][5] Local residents were advised to close their windows due to smoke and the general public were asked to stay away from the area.^[6][7] So far, crews from the NYF&RS have attended from based locations which are quite distant from the fire such as Tadcaster, Bedale, and Bentham, which is 166 kilometres (103 mi) distant from the fire.^[8]

As the event carried on into its fourth day, the NYF&RS announced that explosions may be heard in the area as the site was an old military training range, and the fire may detonate old munitions (the fire is near to the RAF base at Fylingdales, which was built on the old training area).^[9][10] A British Army explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team were in attendance because of the unexploded ordnance, and a ban on live ammunition firing is in effect at Catterick Training Area due to a similar risk of moorland fires.^[11] A helicopter and a drone have been used to survey the fire; the drone was supplied by the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.^[10][5] The aerial footage allowed the fire crews to work out a containment procedure due to the threat of explosions, and local farmers have been helping by spraying slurry onto the peatland to create firebreaks.^[12][i] The helicopters have been used to drop water on the fire.^[14]

The North York Moors Railway, which passes to the west of the seat of the fire, announced that they would not run steam trains along their line because of the fire risk of causing another fire at their lineside which would stretch the resources of the NYF&RS.^[15]

On the 14 August, the NYF&RS stated that they expected the fire to burn for "..a number of days.."^[10] By the 15 of August, the smell of smoke could be detected in York some 56 kilometres (35 mi) away, and by the 16, it had reached Skipton which is 80 miles (130 km) distant from the fire.^[16] The fire has destroyed an area of special scientific interest (SSSI), and one expert stated that the moor could take "..many decades, centuries or even thousands of years" to recover.^[14]

• Aerial footage of the fire