WILDLIFE experts are today assessing the fall-out from a devastating moorland fire.
And there are concerns that the Marsden Moor incident may have been sparked by quad-biking arsonists.
The blaze scorched about eight square kilometres of land designated as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest above Marsden on Saturday and yesterday.
National Trust staff said they received calls from members of the public reporting two people on off-road bikes lighting fires shortly after midday on Saturday.
The charred remains of an abandoned quad bike were still smouldering amid blackened shrubbery about half a mile from Eastergate Bridge on the edge of Marsden yesterday.
Alison Mills, community warden for the National Trust based in Marsden, said: I just cant understand why anyone would actually want to do this.
What sort of enjoyment are they getting out of it? It seems completely pointless.
National Trust property manager Judith Patrick added: At the very least they were trespassing. We will pursue a prosecution to its conclusion.
About 50 firefighters from Huddersfield, Marsden, Meltham, Slaithwaite, Halifax, Elland and Brighouse were involved in tackling the incident at its height.
Specialist wildfire units and a helicopter with a water bucket were dispatched to the scene.
Crews had to divide into two groups to fight the blaze from both the Buckstones side and the Marsden side.
National Parks Rangers were also brought in to assist and beaters were used to extinguish the fire on the ground.
Andy Wooler, watch manager at Huddersfield fire station, said: We sent crews onto the moor, which is dangerous in itself because if the wind changes direction you can find the fire on top of you.
Gary Clare, station manager from Birkenshaw fire station and a specialist wildfire officer, was in charge of the operation.
He said: The fact that it has been dry obviously contributed to the spread of the fire.
Were getting to the end of the burning season for farmers now they are only allowed to burn up to the middle of April.
Firefighters were forced to abandon their efforts at about 10pm on Saturday, but returned yesterday morning to finish the job.
The moors were still being monitored yesterday afternoon.
Mr Clare said it was not clear if the fire was started deliberately, but appealed to would-be fire-starters to think twice.
The damage that can be caused to areas of natural beauty can be devastating, he said.
It also uses up a lot of our resources that might be needed to deal with more serious incidents elsewhere. People need to think carefully about how they act in the countryside.
One firefighter suffered a slight knee injury after falling on uneven ground.
Miss Mills said the impact on wildlife was likely to be disastrous.
She said: Its the beginning of nesting season and a lot of the birds are ground-nesting birds and use the brush as cover.
We have a bird called the twite, also known as the Pennine finch, of which there are only about 25 nesting pairs left in the country.
This area was pretty good for vegetation and it has just been ruined.
Police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information should call 0845 6060606.
Saturdays fire was the second similar incident in 24 hours, following a fire on land near Cop Hill, Slaithwaite, which started at about 9pm onFriday.
Firefighters had to trek across about 1km of boggy marshland under cover of darkness to battle Fridays blaze on moorland near Cop Hill.
Crews from Huddersfield, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Brighouse and Elland were all involved in tackling the incident, which started at about 9pm on Friday.
The fire spread across about 1.5km of moorland above Cop Hill between Marsden and Slaithwaite, near Cupwith Reservoir.
Firefighters had to leave their fire engines at Cop Hill before carrying their equipment about 1km to the fire.
They battled throughout the night to put the blaze out.
l Brighouse firefighters tackled a woodland blaze off Woodside Lane, Fixby, yesterday afternoon. It was started accidentally by young people having a barbecue, and flames spread over 30 square metres.
The crews also put out a blaze in a wooded area off Fenny Royd, Hipperholme, after a garden rubbish fire got out of control.
