FIRE crews will launch a 'heavy attack' to combat a vast moorland blaze which led to the evacuation of a number of homes.
Pockets of fire continue to burn across a six-kilometre area of Saddleworth Moor on Wednesday as 50 firefighters work in 'tremendously difficult conditions' to contain the situation amid the ongoing heatwave.
Smoke has been reported as travelling as far as Birchwood.
A total of 34 homes near the flames in were evacuated on Tuesday night as a precaution when strong winds pushed flames near their properties.
A major incident was declared and the Army remains on standby as Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) put in a plan of action to douse the fire which initially broke out on Sunday afternoon before it reignited the following day and has since worsened.
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An exhausted watch manager, Ian Read, was coming off his shift and described crews as being 'battered' by the efforts to tackle the raging inferno.
Mr Read, told our sister title the Bolton News, he had been up at Saddleworth Moor from 7pm when they came on to about 1am this morning when another crew relieved them.
He said: "We didn't touch the station until 1am and the second has been out all night carrying on going. Then we were on relief duty all over the place.
"It's mental. In the whole of the brigade last night there was only three fire engines available.
"They were battered non-stop last night."
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Mr Read again pleaded with the public to be sensible when out on the moors to avoid incidents like the one in Saddleworth.
He also urged people to only call when absolutely necessary because of how stretched the services are at the moment.
Mr Read said that many people had been calling with reports of smoke in the air.
He urged people not just to call because they could see smoke
Credit: PA/Peter Byrne
Leon Parkers, assistant chief fire officer, said: "This fire is particularly large. We've got lots of experience with dealing with moor fires.
"But this particular incident is vast - it's presented some real challenges to the fire and rescue service in terms of access, the conditions for firefighters, and obviously the wind encourages the fire to spread.
"We've been dealing with an escalating incident and we are trying to get on top of it now."
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