Government urged to learn lessons from North Yorkshire wildfire

National leaders are being urged to learn lessons from a major wildfire which broke out last

National leaders are being urged to learn lessons from a major wildfire which broke out last year.

Ministers and emergency service leaders are being pressed to ensure the response to future wildfires reflects experiences from the fire on Langdale Moor, the county’s deputy mayor for policing, fire and crime, Jo Coles, said.

The wildfire near RAF Fylingdales became the largest in North Yorkshire's history after breaking out in August 2025 and was not officially stood down as a major incident until September that year.

(Image: North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service)

Earlier this year, campaigners and local politicians expressed disappointment after the Government ruled out compensation for affected farmers, landowners and businesses, despite requests for wildfire support to mirror flood recovery schemes.

At Wednesday's meeting of the York and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel, councillors sought assurances on what had been learned from the incident and how those lessons were influencing future planning.

Ms Coles said questions raised by her and York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith following publication of the wildfire review remained central to ongoing discussions with government.

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“All of those questions and those assurance questions that the mayor and I asked are in the public domain and certainly are at the forefront of my mind in all the discussions that we're having with government,” she told the panel.

She confirmed representations had already been made on behalf of North Yorkshire regarding the development of national wildfire resilience arrangements and future funding.

While welcoming increased national attention on wildfire preparedness, she warned it should be viewed as only the beginning of a wider programme of work.

“I welcome the fact that there is some national resilience support being made available but actually it is a first step,” she said.

“It's really important for us in terms of both the fact that we've done all of that learning from the Fylingdales fire and that we have now got increased capabilities and expertise in the fire and rescue service.”

The deputy mayor also highlighted the role played by farmers during the wildfire response, noting one North Yorkshire farmer involved in tackling the blaze had attended a recent Downing Street event hosted by the Prime Minister recognising emergency responders.

(Image: North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service)

She said the experience had reinforced the need for a broader partnership approach to wildfire prevention, involving landowners, farmers, water companies and environmental organisations.

“The prevention of wildfires in North Yorkshire is not going to be something that is particularly led by the fire service,” Ms Coles said.

“They might coordinate and they might convene, but actually most of the work in making sure that land management and prevention is happening effectively has to be done with partners and has to be done particularly with our farming community.”

The panel heard that North Yorkshire had secured £3.2 million from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to support recovery work following the fire, which is being led by the North York Moors National Park Authority and aims to restore damaged moorland while improving resilience to future incidents.