Foreword from Chief Fire Officer Jonathan Dyson

This report provides an evidence-based account of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s response to the Fylingdales Moor wildfire, an incident of significant scale, complexity and duration that required a sustained, coordinated multi-agency response.

Operating in challenging terrain and extreme environmental conditions, our officers and crews, working alongside regional and national partners, farmers, gamekeepers and many others, acted decisively to protect life, critical infrastructure and communities. The absence of loss of life or damage to residential property represents a significant outcome.

Informed by operational data and structured debriefs aligned to the College of Policing protocols, this report offers a clear and objective assessment of our response.

It identifies effective practice, while also setting out areas for improvement. This reflects our commitment to transparency, accountability and continuous organisational learning.

While the response was effective, incidents of this nature reinforce the need to continually strengthen our preparedness, interoperability and coordination. We will ensure that learning is not only identified, but embedded, translating into practical, sustained improvements in how we plan for and respond to complex, protracted incidents.

The findings will be driven forward through a targeted programme of improvement, delivered within established governance arrangements to ensure clear oversight, accountability and measurable progress.

I would like to formally recognise the professionalism, resilience, commitment and the vital contribution of partner agencies, farmers, gamekeepers, contractors, the Ministry of Defence, the Local Resilience Forum, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and our local communities. Their collective support and collaboration were critical to the outcome achieved and reflects the strength of partnership working across York and North Yorkshire, providing a firm foundation on which to build for the future.