
Large fire at Strensall Common nature reserve scaled back
An operation to tackle a large fire which tore through a nature reserve on the outskirts of York has been scaled back.At its height on Tuesday, 10 fire engines were called to the scene of the blaze at Strensall Common after it broke out at about 15:30 BST.In an update posted at 01:00 BST, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the incident had been scaled down to one engine.It said crews were in contact with the emergency control room in the event of any escalation.
Strensall Common is a nature reserve about six miles (10km) from York city centre and is the only place in England where the rare dark-bordered beauty moth can be found.Speaking on Tuesday, Luke Charters, MP for York Outer, said: "Strensall Common is a place I care about deeply."Like many local residents, I treasure it for its natural beauty and peace."
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
How Tynemouth surfer brothers sruvived rip current terror
On Saturday 17 May, two brothers got caught in a terrifying rip current at a popular surfing beach in north-east England. They hope sharing their experience will save lives. It was a great day for a surf, with 5ft-high swells sweeping along the shore at 21, and Andrew, 19, were among the dozens dotting the breaking blue waves at Longsands that they rented their boards from a hire centre at the beach, the pair from Gateshead were advised of the safest spots to unwittingly, they were being blown by a northerly wind towards a rip current, a permanent fixture beside the lido at the southern end of the mile-long the time they realised, it was too late. Andrew was the first to get caught, he had stayed out on the water while his brother went ashore to get a different surfboard."I did not really know what was going on," Andrew says. "I was going full pelt and not getting anywhere."When Euan returned, he instantly saw his younger brother was in trouble and went out to try and help him, getting himself caught in the current."It was like trying to swim on a treadmill," Euan, 21, matter how hard he swam, he found himself and his brother being pulled out to sea by the quickly realised how serious their situation was, and it became even more perilous when they began to get separated. While each was struggling to keep themselves afloat, they also had the added fear of not knowing what was happening to the other, as they disappeared from each other's first urge was to panic and swim as hard as they could to get out of their predicament."I could hear myself panicking but I just knew that would not help me," Euan called at his brother to "just chill", which they laugh about staying calm became key to their survival, the pair remembering the lessons taught to them by their father years before at their local swimming calm and float on your back, conserve energy. Andrew was being bombarded by the breaking waves, tumbling in the tumultuous North he was thrust close to the rocks, which he was able to make a quick burst for and haul himself up on Euan was too far away and being pulled further out to had seen his brother get out to safety, flooding him with relief, his attention now turning solely to his own predicament."I was completely helpless," Euan recalls. "I was just very aware no matter how hard or long I swam there was no chance of me fighting this."Neither really knows how long the ordeal lasted or how far they travelled, but it felt like a long time and a long distance. They both say they had "pretty scary" and "dark" thoughts during their struggle, principally about what had happened to the members of the public, including a 10-year-old boy, saw what was happening and called for RNLI Cullercoats team was paged at 12:09 BST, and 11 minutes later four crew members were aboard their boat Daddy's Girl, bursting out into Cullercoats bay and down the minutes later they found struggles to describe the relief he felt seeing the bright orange boat bearing down on him."That was a great feeling," he says. He was hauled over the inflatable side and taken back to the Cullercoats lifeboat station to be checked over and treated with a bag of gummy had not realised how cold he was until the paramedics started to look him station's operations manager drove him back to Tynemouth for a reunion with his brother."We gave each other a big hug," Euan says. Andrew, who was already out of his wetsuit and into his clothes, recalled the relief he felt at seeing his brother tempered by the soggy embrace from Euan's pair drove home in a daze, Andrew putting I Will Survive on the car's radio."We were in shock," Euan agrees: "I do not think either of us processed what we had been through." The rip current that caught them is a near permanent feature of Longsands, caused by the North Sea surging past the 1920s-built concrete is, according to the RNLI, "topographically constrained", while other rip currents can also regularly form along the currents can reach speeds of 5mph and pull anyone caught in them out to can be difficult to spot but are "sometimes identified by a channel of churning, choppy water on the sea's surface", the RNLI currents are the number one source for lifeguard call-outs, Geoff Cowan, the RNLI Cullercoats safety advisor is full of praise for the brothers, first for their actions in the moment and secondly for speaking out about it afterwards in a bid to boost awareness of the perils of rip currents and what to do if caught in one. Advice if caught includes to not try and swim against the current, but rather try and head parallel to the shore until free from its brothers had several things in their favour, Geoff says, including being young and fit and, crucially, they were wearing wetsuits, which provided invaluable buoyancy also followed the Float to Live protocols, advice issued by the RNLI to prevent drowning."We want people to enjoy the water but be mindful of what can go wrong and what to do if it does," Geoff says. Additional advice includes carrying a phone in waterproof pouch and using the SafeTtrx app, which would quickly enable the RNLI to locate those in the side button on a mobile phone five times will also start a 999 call, Geoff brothers are yet to return to the sea, but they have been to the Cullercoats station with their family to thank those who came to their aid."We are really pleased to see them both," Geoff says. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.


BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Your photos of the West Midlands: Stunning blooms and waddling geese
We love to feature your photographs showing the stunning beauty of the West Midlands and here are some of the best from the past your images via BBC Weather Watchers or email us at midlandstoday@ inspiration, view some top tips from three of England's Big Picture photographers. When emailing pictures, please make sure you include the following information:The full name of the person who took the pictures (as this person owns the copyright)Confirmation that the copyright holder gives permission for the BBC to use their pictures across all its outputsThe location, date and time the pictures were takenYour telephone number so we can get back to you if we have any further questionsAny other details about the pictures that may be useful for us to know Follow for more pictures on Instagram from BBC Birmingham, BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, BBC Hereford & Worcester, BBC Shropshire, BBC Stoke & Staffordshire and BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country.


BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Warehouse fire in Rushden was like a horror movie, say residents
People living near a large warehouse that caught on fire more than two weeks ago said the incident was "like a horror movie". The blaze at Monoworld in Rushden, Northamptonshire, led to a major incident being declared on 23 May, with 15 crews dealing with the fire at its from a large quantity of burning plastic at the recycling site on the Sanders Lodge industrial estate could be seen for the fire being extinguished the same day and the site handed back to the owners, North Northamptonshire Council advised those living nearby to wash homegrown food and clean shoes earlier this week. 'Never seen smoke like that' The Monoworld warehouse sits behind Sue Pettit's garden and she said the fire was "pretty alarming"."It was very black, very thick smoke very high. It did look like a horror movie," she 78-year-old added the fire meant she and her husband had to stay in the house."They told us to keep their doors and windows shut and so there was no point in coming into the garden," she husband Roy added: "The smoke kept me out in the garden for a couple of days. I didn't come out here at all."The 81-year-old added: "I've never, ever seen or experienced smoke like that in the whole of my life."It was jet black, thick and it was rising straight up and then it suddenly turned 90 degrees and came across the bungalow."He said the couple had "taken all the precautions that we were advised to" by the fire service and then the council. 'We were lucky' Eleanor Seers also lives near the industrial estate and has spent 25 years working on her garden, including growing her own fruit and said: "I just grow enough for me and my husband. It's lovely to walk out and pick your own produce."The 74-year-old said she was out walking her dog on the morning of the fire about the time it broke out and "could see the smoke".When she returned home, she added, "I could see the flames behind [the smoke, that is] how near it was".Ms Seers was worried the flames, smoke and debris would damage her garden."It would have been [lost] because it's 25 years of work. We were lucky," she said. 'Common-sense approach' North Northamptonshire Council said the advice it gave to wash homegrown food and clean shoes was "precautionary".In a statement the authority said: "In conjunction with our partner agencies, we have suggested some short-term actions, as a reminder, of general advice in what is a low risk, temporary situation – a number of which would be seen as a common-sense approach when dealing with home-grown produce for example." Rushden warehouse fire: A timeline 23 May 06:30 BST: Fire breaks out at at the Monoworld recycling site23 May 11:45: Major incident declared with 15 fire engines tackling the blaze23 May 16:30: Major incident stood down but firefighters remained on site27 May: Businesses on the industrial estate were allowed to reopen30 May: Fire service said the fire was accidental and likely caused by a battery4 June: Residents issued advice by North Northamptonshire Council to wash homegrown food and clean shoes Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.