Wildfire 'overlooked' as it was in the North - MP

Alison Hume smiles at the camera, with some green fields behind her and blackened moorland in the distance.

Image source, BBC/Carla FowlerImage caption,

Alison Hume, pictured in early 2026 near the North York Moors wildfire site, says a national conversation has now begun

BySeb CheerYorkshire

Published1 hour ago

A "huge and devastating" wildfire in the North York Moors last year was "overlooked" by the government and national media because it was in the north of England, a Labour MP has said.

Alison Hume's Scarborough and Whitby constituency includes the 10 sq mile (25 sq km) area of Langdale Moor which was ravaged by a fire which burned for more than 40 days.

"There was very little interest from the national media," she said, adding that in recent weeks there had been "smaller wildfires in the South that received a lot of coverage".

The government said it was "supporting every part of the country that has been affected by wildfire - not just the South".

Hume said she had been "surprised" that national news outlets did not cover the Fylingdales fire "for weeks".

"It's been very noticeable that since there's been wildfires in the South, the coverage has gone through the roof."

Hume added that she "wouldn't want to draw anything away from how serious" a blaze in Stourbridge was last week.

"With the 19 homes totally destroyed, that was off the scale and devastating," she said.

On Friday, the prime minister said emergency services were responding to 37 wildfires, with major incidents spread across the southern half of the UK.

A map showing locations in England and Wales where there have been major fire incidents last week.

Hume said she was "really pleased" that Andy Burnham had announced a temporary ban on disposable barbecues and that an emergency alert was sent to people's phones warning of a "very high risk of wildfires".

"Of course I'm glad that we're getting more national interest in wildfires," she said.

"The country's now coming to terms with something that we've been coming to terms with in North Yorkshire for a while, which is when you get a wildfire, it doesn't end when the fire's put out."

Efforts to "rebuild the community" were continuing one year on from the North York Moors fire, she said.

'North-South divide'

Hume welcomed government funding to help cover North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service's expenses from the wildfire, and £3.2m towards moorland recovery.

But she said the financial loss suffered by farmers and other businesses had "slipped through the cracks".

"I think had it been in the South, my calls for an extension of the grant network, which exists for flooding, would have probably been better received," she said.

"We can't ask our community to turn out, put their lives on the line in many cases, stand shoulder to shoulder with our fire and rescue services, help put the fires out and then say, 'well, I'm sorry your tractor was damaged' or 'I'm sorry your business was closed'."

Hume, who founded and leads the All Party Parliamentary Group on Wildfires, said she had since had "conversations with government about really getting them to look at how they support people affected by wildfires afterwards".

"We're learning a lot from last year and I'm hoping that that learning can also be extended throughout the country," she said.

"I don't want to go on about the North-South divide, but we know there is one, right?"

An aerial shot of mostly blackened moorland.

Image source, BBC/Stuart PrandleImage caption,

10 sq miles (25 sq km) of North Yorkshire moorland was damaged, pictured here in February 2026

Hume also called for ministers to "really look at what happens when fire gets close to a piece of critical national infrastructure".

Last summer's wildfire burned near to RAF Fylingdales, part of the UK and US ballistic missile warning system.

She said she had visited the site this week and spoke to staff who "can't just turn the radar off and leave".

"It was quite sobering to hear how worried they were as the fire got closer."

Last month, a wildfire in Suffolk was about 3 miles (5km) from the Sizewell B nuclear power station.

Hume said such situations should automatically trigger national resilience, when firefighters from brigades around the country are sent to assist.

"Extra resources come in at that point where something as important as RAF Fylingdales is threatened by wildfire because it's literally in the middle of a moor, it's very vulnerable," she said.

On Friday, Burnham said Britain was a "tinderbox" and outlined plans to expand support for fire services and ensure they are properly resourced.

He said the UK must face up to the "changing climate" and transition to "more clean energy".

His comments came ahead of the appointment of Baroness Blake of Leeds as fire minister.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "We're making almost £1.95bn available for fire services across England, and investing £97m for the biggest upgrade of national resilience capabilities in nearly twenty years.

"We recognise that properties have been lost, firefighters have been hospitalised and people have been displaced, which is why we have also made available an emergency fund to support areas facing the greatest pressure."