ATVs are secret weapon in tackling moorland fires

Filed under: Quad Bikes News — Mat on May 19, 2011

A new secret weapon has been rolled out in the area of Belmont to help tackle the ongoing problem of moorland fires. The fires, which have caused a great deal of damage to some of the moorland in Lancashire, are still posing a problem due to hot spots on the moorland. ATVs have been brought into the area by United Utilities to help firefighters get to the widespread problem areas.

Quad bikes have been deployed with 500 litre water tanks and these have been very effective when it comes to dampening down the hot spots on the moorland. While there has been rainfall over the last couple of days there are still many peat areas which are red hot and which cause fires to spring up again. In total more than seventy thousand trees were totally destroyed in fires that spread rapidly across almost 2,000 acres of moorland in East Lancashire.

Calls were made to install preventative measures, which has led to the use of quads. The vehicles are an excellent way to ensure that firefighters are able to get to the areas needed quickly. Some of these areas are very rough terrain and it vital that they are doused with water as if the wind picks up the red hot peat could cause yet more fires and destruction.

The ATVs for the Lancashire problem have been specifically kitted out to tackle the blazes and reach areas that fire engines simply cannot reach. They have high pressure hoses and can tackle the areas directly stopping the risk of a fire in its tracks.

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