Firefighters called to 14 field wildfire close to city centre
Four crews of firefighters have been tackling a huge blaze covering “14 football fields” close to Durham City Centre.
The wildfire inferno is reported to have taken place near Durham University's Graham Sports Centre close to the A177 leading out of the city.
A spokesperson for County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service said: “We were first alerted to the fire at 2.18 pm today (July 12) and we received a total of 64 calls from members of the public.
“Four appliances were deployed to the fire which covered an area of agricultural land of around 14 football pitches. We class a wildfire as any area in excess of 100,000 square metres, which this was.
“Firefighters took around two-and-a-half hours to extinguish the blaze and are in the process of dampening the area down. No buildings were involved in the fire and no rescues had to be made.”
The Fire Service confirmed they do not yet know the cause of the fire but that they are liaising with Durham Constabulary.