Public Rights of Way across Fylingdales Moor are now open. This includes the Coast to Coast and Lyke Wake Walk routes. The temporary suspension to Open Access has also now ended.

Visitors are asked to adhere to signage and remain on designated paths, helping to protect public safety and support the long-term environmental recovery of the area. Please visit the wildfire page of the North York Moors National Park website to read all guidance and the latest updates.

Former military training area: do not touch metal objects

The intense heat of the wildfire detonated more than 20 explosive devices on Fylingdales Moor that had previously lain dormant beneath the ground. There have been no further explosions since the major incident status was stepped down in September, however, the loss of surface peat and vegetation has exposed further historic military debris. While most of these items are harmless, there remains a serious risk that unexploded ordnance (UXO) remains present.

Disturbing the ground is extremely dangerous, please keep to the path and remain vigilant.

If you encounter a suspicious metal object:

• Do NOT touch it
• Note the exact location (preferably using What3Words)
• Report it immediately by dialling 999 and asking for the police

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Help protect a fragile, recovering landscape

Although Open Access has been reinstated, the moorland environment is badly damaged and extremely fragile. Large areas of bare peat and exposed archaeology are at immediate risk of further erosion, particularly in wet, wintery conditions.

To support recovery efforts, visitors are asked to:

• Keep to the most obvious and well-defined paths
• Avoid creating new routes or widening existing ones
• Keep dogs on a lead or under close control
• Do not move stones, artefacts, or other natural materials

The fire has now moved into the recovery stage after being officially downgraded from a major incident by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. See the latest update from the fire service on their live blog on the North Yorkshire Fire website.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation and the public have been thanked for their patience as inquiries continue. 

The North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum is still actively working together to monitor the situation and any impacts as well as to support recovery.

Recovery Coordination Group update

Partners in the Recovery Coordination Group, led by North Yorkshire Council, continue to lobby hard for financial compensation for the farmers, landowners and businesses impacted by the wildfire, where obvious funding streams have not yet been identified.

As such, on 5 November representatives from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, North Yorkshire Council, the North York Moors National Park Authority and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority hosted a tour of the areas impacted by the fire for government officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

This was a significant moment. The delegation was taken to May Beck and Woodsmith Mine, where the blaze originally jumped across the B1416.

The tour took in the very northern extremity of the fire and then travelled down the A171 to show Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government delegates the full extent of the fire area. They visited the Flask Inn and the Grouse Hill camp site, where a small number of evacuations took place during the height of the fire. They then returned to May Beck and followed the fire tracks past the Sneaton Highmoor Forest and towards Lilla Cross. This demonstrated the size and scale of the firebreaks and the environmental damage that the fire has caused to a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The scale of the geography impacted by the fire was brought home clearly to the delegation in a map which overlays the Fylingdales Moor fire extent over the area impacted by the Great Fire of London, shown below.

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The tour finished at the site of the former fire incident command point and it was a valuable opportunity to visually represent the huge scale and impact of the Fylingdales Moor fire. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government delegates took many photos and videos of the areas impacted. There were helpful discussions around the risks that North Yorkshire faced, and could continue to face in the future, and discussions around how we can work with government to support the return of the firebreaks, and the communities impacted.

We acknowledge that those attending for government need to take this back and discuss with ministers. They asked a lot of questions, in particular to the fire and rescue service officers present about the capability that the fire service have, and need access to, to be able to tackle these risks. For example, the numbers of on-call firefighters and longer-term relief, the number and type of fire appliances, as well as types of equipment, and touched on the potential for how farming contractors might support preparedness in the future.

They were also keen to talk about health impacts and were conscious that a fire has a direct impact on landowners and property, but also the wider impact of plumes over urban areas as well as wider community anxiety and potential mental health issues.

During the tour the Recovery Coordination Group partners asked for £3.17 million in government support to restore the firebreaks, as well as further financial support for landowners, farmers and businesses directly impacted. We explained that if this had been a flooding incident we would be lobbying to activate the Farming Recovery Fund and the Flood Recovery Framework to access financial compensation for those impacted who have no obvious route to recompense. Such a framework does not currently exist for wildfires, and we believe it should, alongside other weather-related incidents. We also outlined why the Fylingdales Moor fire is different from other wildfires due to the presence of unexploded ordnance and the depth of the peat which is still smouldering in places. These issues continue to delay recovery and financial assistance to those impacted which is critical.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government representatives said afterwards that it was incredibly helpful to see and understand the huge challenges presented. We have already requested a follow up meeting with national government, which we hope will happen soon.