A HELICOPTER was called in to help tackle a huge fire on Willsworthy Ranges near Mary Tavy last Thursday ? the first time airpower has ever been used during a moorland blaze. More than 40 firefighters were called to the scene, which ultimately damaged 300 hectares of gorse in the Hare Tor area. Crews from Tavistock, Okehampton, Princetown and Bere Alston and the incident control vehicle from Greenbank in Plymouth spent four hours on the moor as they tackled the blaze. Tavistock fire chief Tim Smith said the incident was potentially very dangerous for the crews. Mr Smith said the gorse was being burned off but the blaze got out of control and spread onto the artillery ranges: ?At one point we had guns going off all round us. ?There was also the possibility of ordnance lying around, so it was dangerous stuff. ?We had several fire fronts and one of them was around a mile long.? Mr Smith said the helicopter, which had been working on an incident at Exmoor, was incredibly effective as it bombed the fire with water from above. ?My chaps would have struggled like hell to beat out such a large area, they would have had to walk four or five miles. It would have taken a lot longer than four hours without that helicopter,? said Mr Smith. Col Tony Clark, of Okehampton Camp, commandant of the Dartmoor training area, said the fire was ?very unfortunate?. Col Clark said: ?I am exceedingly embarrassed and annoyed it should have happened. The MOD were burning some grass and gorse in order to prevent military training setting fire to the moor ? unfortunately, it got out of control. ?We put into effect the Dartmoor Forest Fire Plan and working together, the fire was extinguished ? part of the plan is the use of a helicopter to extinguish fire using water dropped from a bucket.? Col Clark said the fire plan is the result of a partnership between the military and several other bodies, including the Duchy of Cornwall, the Commoners? Association, Defra, English Nature, the Hill Farmers? Association, Dartmoor National Park Authority and Devon Fire and Rescue. ?We joined together to employ a retired member of the fire service to help us to develop a plan to prevent and fight uncontrolled fires on the moor and we are just in the process of finishing it,? said Col Clark. ?One of the key parts is how to stop a fire spreading. We looked at a myriad of ideas, but the one which was most exciting in terms of fire fighting in open moorland was use of the helicopter. ?We are also looking at our ability to create fire-breaks quickly, to protect our wonderful moorland landscape.? Col Clark said the area of moor affected by the fire would be inspected and monitored by the military following the blaze.
