'Major incident' declared as more than a hundred firefighters battle 22 square km Yorkshire Moor blaze
A 'major incident' has been declared in North Yorkshire as firefighters continue to tackle a wildfire stretching for more than 22 sq kilometers.
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The blaze, which initially stretched across 300m of moorland near RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, broke out on August 11 and continues to spread.
Fire and rescue services have now been drafted in from across the country - including more than 20 members of the London Fire Brigade, with the inferno described as 'rapidly spreading'.
In an update, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said there continues to be a "significant presence in the area".
They also revealed that unexploded ordnance buried on a former Second World War tank training ground continue to cause "additional issues" firefighters issues as they attempt to bring the blaze under control.
Jonathan Dyson, Chief Fire Officer of the Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said "more than a dozen explosions have so far been reported".
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Fire crews have had to adapt to “defensive” tactics, according to the Fire Chief.
Residents living nearby have been ordered to "keep doors and windows closed" if they are likely to be affected by the smoke.
"If people need to be evacuated they will be contacted and advised," North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue confirmed.
"The effort along the A171 flank has helped contain the fire and no evacuations have taken place overnight," they wrote on Friday.
"The plan for today is continued containment of the fire within the current boundary and then some further work to add further control lines to offer greater protection against future spread.
Adding: "The fire is currently 22 square kilometres."
"The fire is has made a rapid spread further north and then across to the northwest. And this has been the key areas of our focus, trying to make sure that we maintain the critical road, network and infrastructure within the county," Jonathan Dyson said.
"Making sure that, of course, emergency response and medical aid and support can still get through local communities. And then trying to minimize that impact as to what the firefighting efforts are doing one thing we have been aware of is the significant pressures upon our service to continue our business as usual function for firefighting around the county.
"And also because we are largely an on-call county, which means that we have whole time firefighters that are available 24 hours a day and our on-call firefighters are colleagues who have other primary employers.
"Now for those colleagues, that puts a significant pressure on them, their families, and their employers. And therefore we work around this in the due systems and our approach to this.
"Now, I have today made a request into the national resilience for national assets to be deployed to the, to the area.
We remain at the scene of the fire at Langdale. There are road closure in place in the area which we're asking people to abide by. Regular updates are being added to our website https://t.co/0GBbWKjBLh pic.twitter.com/62u81XDqNG
— North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (@NorthYorksFire) August 28, 2025
In an update posted online, London Fire Brigade said: "We have deployed 27 firefighters, five officers, five fire appliances and one of our wildfire vehicles to join other Fire and Rescue Services in North Yorkshire to tackle the major 10 sq mile fire at Langdale Moor.
"We are proud to be able to assist our fire and rescue family."
Locals have been advised that if they need to be evacuated, they will be contacted.
With several road closures, emergency services say people must follow diversions and road signs for safety.