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Fire service says it is under ‘great deal of pressure’ and area near Saddleworth could burn for weeks

Another wildfire broke out in the hills above Greater Manchester on Thursday as 100 soldiers were drafted in to fight the flames that have been raging on land near Saddleworth moor since Sunday.

Greater Manchester fire and rescue (GMFRS) said it was under “a great deal of pressure” as a second moorland fire took hold in Rivington, in the west Pennines north of Bolton.

Sixty fire fighters and 12 fire engines from Greater Manchester and neighbouring Lancashire have been tackling the blaze on Winter Hill since 4pm on Thursday.

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It began just as fire chiefs said the “apocalyptic” fire in the Saddleworth area was contained and under control but could take weeks to put out – particularly if the wind changes direction.

A further eight fire engines spent much of the day trying to put out a fire involving wooden pallets at a commercial premises in Rochdale. Another five were called to a balcony blaze in a block in Manchester’s rapidly developing Green Quarter, north of Victoria station.

The new fires, combined with the continuing effort to stamp out the Saddleworth fire, prompted a warning from fire bosses. Paul Etches, head of prevention for GMFRS, urged people to be careful with barbecues and to only call 999 in a true emergency.

“The moorland incidents in Tameside are unprecedented and they have required a significant amount of our resources over the past few days,” he said. “We hugely appreciate the support from other services and agencies but this incident has put us under a great deal of pressure.”

At the blaze near Saddleworth, Scottish soldiers from the 100-strong A Company of the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, known as the Highlanders, deployed from their base in North Yorkshire to help fire crews who have been working rolling 12-hour shifts to try to extinguish the fire.

Wildfires sweep across moors outside Manchester - in pictures Read more

The fire has reached seven square miles across (18km sq), with the active “fire front” stretching up to 2.5 miles (4km), according to Tony Hunter, the assistant chief fire officer.

Helicopters have been dropping water while firefighters and soldiers used paddles to beat out the flames in 27C (80F) heat.

Hunter said he was cautiously optimistic. “We have made significant improvements, but I would put an air of caution there though; we had a similar occasion yesterday where we thought we were on top of it and it flared up,” he told reporters at the operating base at Swineshaw reservoir.

Maj Phil Morgan, commanding the army detachment, said: “Currently we have broken our boys down into various locations, and we are beating the fire with paddles and we are supporting them by moving equipment. We are putting water on the fires and we are doing everything we can to stop this fire.”

An RAF Chinook helicopter has been made available to help move a heavy water pump, which is capable of spraying 7,000 litres of water a minute over the moors.

The 34 households evacuated on Tuesday night in Carrbrook, Stalybridge, have returned home, but they and everyone else in Greater Manchester have been advised to keep windows and doors closed as the smoke has spread.

That advice is likely to continue well into next week, with Hunter warning that the weather forecast did not bode well. “We have not seen any indication of any rain coming in the next couple of days/weeks, so we can see this being prolonged for days if not weeks. It is dependent on a downpour of rain – and it would have to be a significant downpour of rain because it is so dry it would be absorbed very, very quickly,” he said.

There could be a dramatic change should the wind switch direction and push the fire back towards the arid, peat bogs, which provide perfect fuel for a long-burning fire. “If there is a change in wind to the opposite direction, it is a completely different picture then in terms of the fuel available to this fire,” he said.

Dave Saxon, the director of operations at Tameside council, said it was monitoring air quality, which had improved on Thursday.

Fire chiefs said they were not confident of finding out how the fire began, given the size of the blaze, but there was no evidence it had been started by barbecues or off-road bikers.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A helicopter scoops up water to tackle the blaze near Saddleworth Moor. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Hunter asked members of the public to keep country lanes free from cars so the emergency services could access them easily.

He said the fire service had considered trying to close the moors but had decided against it. “We believe we have the fire contained and we have the resources to deal with an increase in fire, so at this stage that’s not a requirement,” he said.

A GP from the area said residents living near Saddleworth Moor have reported problems including nosebleeds, eye irritation and chest problems. Dr Richard Bircher, of Lockside Medical Centre in Stalybridge, said about half the emergency appointments booked on Thursday were from patients reporting problems as a result of the smoke.