Moorland Fire: Military deployed to help tackle 'biggest blaze in living memory'

Dozens of soldiers are being deployed to help tackle a huge wildfire on the moors over Tameside and Stalybridge.

As the fight to bring the blaze under control enters its fifth day, the Defence Secretary announced 100 soldiers and an RAF Chinook helicopter would be sent to the scene.

Firefighters from Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Derbyshire have worked tirelessly to tackle the flames.

Clive Hopkinson, from GMFRS, explained why the moorland fires have been so difficult to control:

"It's still a massively difficult job up there. It's an arduous task when you're tackling wildfires. In all my time I've never seen anything like it, it's unprecedented.

"The trouble with moorland firefighting is that the wind can pick up and can turn the fire around and can face in another direction again. It can be precarious up there."

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

I pay tribute to our Armed Forces’ professionalism, dedication and sense of duty. They are proving once again that Britain can always depend on our troops to protect us no matter the time, no matter the place, and no matter the problem.

The troops will deploy overnight from their barracks in Catterick. Operating out of a nearby Army Training Centre, they will assist the effort to control and reduce the fire, undertaking tasks such as the management of water lines, fire beating and providing general support where required.

The RAF Chinook, flying out of RAF Odiham, will arrive this morning. It will airlift heavy equipment such as High Volume Pump Units to areas that are difficult to access due to the terrain