Cumbria fire crews give wildfire advice to Penrith shoppers

Penrith Fire and Rescue crews met with customers at the town’s shops to provide advice following a spate of wildfires across Cumbria.

Posting on Twitter, station manager Andrew Lowes said: “Preventing wildfires all summer.

“Penrith crews engaged at point of purchase with shops in Penrith today to ensure BBQs go out with some fire safety advice.

"Lots of shops are going to help support this through the summer. Thank you to those shops.”

The crews were pictured in both Morrisons and B&M.

The drive came after firefighters urged the public not to have barbecues in the countryside. A period of dry weather throughout April had left the ground extremely dry.

While the weather in recent days has finally brought some long-awaited rain, the public are still being advised not to take barbecues or light campfires when visiting the Cumbrian coast and countryside.

Fire crews from Penrith Fire Station were involved in battling a wildfire at The Benn at Thirlmere on April 25, along with other crews from Keswick and Ambleside.

It was the latest in a string of wildfires across the county in April – earlier that week, six crews spent two days putting out a fire which broke out in Whinlatter Forest on April 23.

Earlier in the month there was also a wildfire at Bowness-on-Solway, where crews from Carlisle East and West Fire Stations, together with teams from Wigton and Silloth, used water packs and beaters to put out the blaze.

Fire crews said the spate of issues had shown that warm weather is not needed for wildfires to start.

Advice issued to the public in recent week also includes putting out cigarettes properly – not throwing the butts on the ground – avoiding using open fires, not leaving bottles or glass in woodland – as sunlight shining through glass can start fires – and only using barbecues in safe areas and never unattended.

A spokesman for the fire service said: “Let’s do our best to prevent wildfires happening.”