London, May 6
A wildfire has destroyed about 12,500 acres (50.6 square kilometres) of moorland on Dartmoor in south-west England.
Emergency services received multiple calls alerting them to the blaze on Sunday and firefighters tackled it for almost 24 hours until it was extinguished on Monday.
People were asked to avoid the Merrivale and Okehampton areas while the incident was ongoing, with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service saying the fire may behave "unpredictably" with the changing weather.
It comes after the United Kingdom saw the warmest start to May on record, with 29.3 degrees Celsius registered on Thursday afternoon in south-west London. (ANI/ WAM)
— ANI
Reader Comments
This is really sad to hear. Wildfires are becoming more common everywhere due to climate change. In India too, we've seen similar incidents in forest areas. Hope they can restore the moorland soon. 🌱
12,500 acres is massive! We had similar fires in Uttarakhand last year. The UK should learn from India's forest management techniques - our forest guards do amazing work during fire season.
Climate change is real, yaar. First UK's record heat, now this wildfire. We're seeing extreme weather in India too - unseasonal rains destroying crops. When will world leaders take serious action?
The firefighters must have worked so hard for 24 hours straight! Salute to them 👠In India, our disaster response teams are also very dedicated during such emergencies.
While this is tragic, I wonder if developed nations will now understand what countries like India face regularly with climate disasters. Our Himalayan states suffer forest fires every summer.
Dartmoor is such a beautiful place! Visited there 2 years ago. Hope the wildlife wasn't affected too badly. Maybe India and UK can collaborate on better fire prevention technologies?
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