At around 5.30pm on Wednesday evening, Bovey Tracey firefighters were called to a fire in the open on Bovey Heath.

While en route, Fire Control updated the incident to a Heathland fire and mobilised colleagues from Newton Abbot as well as a water bowser and 4x4 vehicle from Torquay.

On arrival, it was clear that there were multiple fires in the area and because of this, the Incident Commander requested a third pumping appliance which was sent from Newton Abbot.

Crews were able to extinguish the fire using 45mm jets and beaters and remained on site damping down and to ensure all hot spots were extinguished.

A fire control spokesperson said: ’As we are entering spring and summer months, our local grassland and heathland will be dry and with the weather warming up, the conditions are ideal for fire to spread rapidly.

’Please take extra care on our moors. A discarded cigarette, portable barbecues and even broken glass can spark devastating large gorse fires that require a lot of resources to extinguish.’