Report reveals strain on fire crews tackling Langdale Moor blaze

Fire crews faced significant pressure while tackling a moorland blaze which burned for 40 days, a report has found.

According to the report into North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service's performance and development, staff showed "exceptional commitment" during the blaze in the North York Moors National Park which started in early August 2025.

However, firefighters struggled to balance their work with their normal duties - including responding to other emergencies - and their other employment.

As a result of the report, the service has been recommended to develop better arrangements for relieving and rotating crews during lengthy incidents to protect staff welfare and maintain emergency cover.

The main blaze started at Langdale Moor on 11 August and at its height covered nearly 10 sq miles (25 sq km).

It was likely to have been caused by someone cooking using a campfire or gas burner, an investigation later found.

The report into the fire service's response, which is due to be considered by York and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel on Wednesday, said the blaze placed pressure on senior officers, full-time firefighters, on-call crews and volunteers.

"While on-call personnel demonstrated exceptional commitment throughout the response, sustained deployment began to affect primary employment commitments and operational availability," the report stated.

It also raised questions about expectations for firefighters to continue working beyond their normal shifts.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service , the findings have come amid wider concerns about the availability of on-call firefighters across North Yorkshire, particularly in rural communities where fire stations rely heavily on personnel who have other jobs.

The report acknowledged that recruiting and retaining sufficient on-call firefighters remained a major challenge.

It also noted that employment commitments, training requirements and difficulties filling specialist roles all contributed to the problem.

Particular difficulties existed in recruiting qualified drivers and supervisory managers, with more than half of on-call supervisors also holding full-time firefighting contracts, the report found.

However, it added that recruitment was improving, with 53 new on-call firefighters joining so far this year, compared with annual intakes of between 32 and 34 in previous years.

But the report warned that new recruits required extensive training before becoming fully operational, meaning increased recruitment did not immediately translate into better emergency cover.

The service currently employs 306 full-time firefighters, 339 on-call firefighters and 14 volunteers, although some staff hold more than one role.

A review of future staffing requirements is under way, with the findings expected before the end of the year.

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