It seems like the muppets are out in force again. After a spell of dry weather, it looks like the heath fire season has started. As I came through Chasewater tonight at about 8:15pm, I smelled smoke, so took a trundle down the dam road to investigate. There was a fire appliance at the Innovation Centre end of the dam, parked near the 9-foot pool, behind the old bridge. Fire crew were damping down the canal embankment near to the spillway after a seemingly quite serious fire.
I know it’s the school holidays, and the weather is dry, but be careful, folks. It only takes on discarded cigarette end.
Sorry for the poor quality of the photographs, it was dusk and the light really was very poor.
The appliance was stationed near the nine-foot pool on the canal side of the dam. 8:14pm, Sunday, 24th April 2011.
The fire seemed to have been largely on the canal embankment, and firefighters were pumping canal water to damp down. 8:18pm, Sunday, 24th April 2011.
Damping down was still ongoing. 8:20pm, Sunday, 24th April 2011.
The fire appeared to have caught in a couple of places, and was still smouldering. 8:19pm, Sunday, 24th April 2011.
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This was another reminder – and oakparkrunner will enjoy this one too – of the grass fires that used to destroy large tracts of land on the Chase during the years of the AFS stationed in Brownhills. Again, I have a pic, taken from the Chester Road between the old rail bridge and the Rising Sun.
The Chase is well alight and I remember the machines from Brownhills being there for several days with the crews getting precious little rest. My dad stunk of smoke for days after! I suppose this must have been around 1969-ish.