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Yorkshire Water funds new all-terrain vehicle for West Yorkshire Fire Service

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has a new all-terrain vehicle to help tackle moorland fires locally, thanks to a donation from Yorkshire Water.

The utility company has given £50,000 towards the vehicle, which the fire service says will enhance the current wildfire fleet, allowing firefighters to access hard-to-reach areas such as areas of Rombalds Moor locally.

Yorkshire Water has been a key supporter of WYFR’s ‘Be Moor Aware’ campaign, which educates around moorland fires, as they can affect the county’s water supply too. As well as damaging the moorland, some of which is owned by Yorkshire Water, if a fire is near a reservoir the run-off from the water can impact water quality in reservoirs.

Wildfire Lead for WYFRS Rich Hawley said: “This donation allows us to increase our fleet of all-terrain vehicles, which are essential for accessing and extinguishing fires in areas inaccessible to our conventional fire appliances. Given the significant increase in fires in our rural landscapes we have experienced recently, specialist vehicles operated by our Wildfire Crews allow a rapid attack on vegetation fires reducing the likelihood of them escalating into large devastating wildfires many people have seen in recent years”.

Mike Pearson, portfolio manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Our region’s moorlands play an important role in our management of water. We have seen how seriously moorland fires can impact our landscape and we’re pleased to be able to play our part in helping West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s efforts to protect the moors and our customers’ water supply from wildfires.”

 

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