Wildfire destroys 12,500 acres of land on England’s Dartmoor

LONDON: A wildfire has destroyed about 12,500 acres (50.6 square kilometres) of moorland on Dartmoor in south-west England.

Emergency services received multiple calls alerting them to the blaze on Sunday and firefighters tackled it for almost 24 hours until it was extinguished on Monday.

Update: the wildfire on Dartmoor has now been extinguished. Thanks to the Dartmoor Commoners and @DSFireUpdates who battled the blaze.

Please continue to take care and don’t light BBQs or fires on the moor. pic.twitter.com/kYZxrlJdfQ

— Dartmoor National Park (@dartmoornpa) May 5, 2025

People were asked to avoid the Merrivale and Okehampton areas while the incident was ongoing, with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service saying the fire may behave “unpredictably” with the changing weather.

It comes after the United Kingdom saw the warmest start to May on record, with 29.3 degrees Celsius registered on Thursday afternoon in south-west London. (ANI/ WAM)