West Yorkshire Police said in a statement on Sunday afternoon: “We can confirm that three men have been arrested in connection with a fire on Ilkley Moor yesterday.

“The men, who are aged 19, 23 and 24, remain in custody at this time and enquiries are ongoing with the fire service to establish if this incident is linked to the larger blaze.

“The fire service is continuing to tackle the blaze and members of the public are advised to avoid the area.

“The blaze is believed to now be under control, but we would like to remind members of the public that this recent hot weather may have made some moorland areas tinder dry, which means that even small fires may spread rapidly in these conditions.”

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service is the latest brigade to announce that it is considering purchasing a fleet of thinner vehicles.

The proposal follows a spate of incidents where crews have been unable to reach incidents because their fire engines could not fit down the road.

The new slimmer engines are expected to weigh about 12 tonnes, compared to 16 tonnes for a full-sized fire engine.

There have been a series of emergencies around Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, where rescue crews have had difficulty navigating through streets full of cars, including one where a terraced house was nearly gutted and a man was hospitalised. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that from 2004 to 2014, the number larger cars registrations have seen some of the biggest percentage increases in registrations over this period. Dual purpose and multi-purpose vehicles rose by 62.9 per cent and 31.8 per cent respectively, the second and third largest increases out of the nine categories of vehicle. Steven Bell, head of sales at Emergency One, a leading manufacturer of fire engines to British brigades, said there has been a surge in demand for smaller fire engines in recent years. “It comes down to geography and location. There is more need for lighter and smaller vehicles in tighter streets and towns”

“The union said current plans for cuts would see the loss of one in five frontline crews in Essex since 2008, claiming that the public was already waiting longer for fire crews to turn up.

FBU official Alan Chinn-Shaw said: “No one wants to go on strike. We have only done so in what is a third year of continuing cuts in frontline services and imposition.

“Strike action is a last resort and we are calling only short periods of lawful strike to limit the risks to the public whilst highlighting the very serious concerns of frontline professionals. Left unchallenged, the frontline cuts would hit public and firefighter safety 24 hours every day, 365 days a year.”

I once led a parish delegation to Government to campaign against the decision of Notts County Council to close a firestation. That was 22 years ago. At that time the world of the fire service was complex and organisationally confusing.  The nature and arrangements for one of the most important and valued services at the local level are still very varied and complex and lack a straightforward template.

By way of explanation here are a few issues : it is increasingly difficult in rural areas to recruit retained (part time on call) firefighters, some fire authorities are independent others are part of local authorities., fire call centres were going to be regionalised and then that fell through with the outlawing of all things containing the “R” word. All of which makes it increasingly difficult for people to understand the pros and cons of disputes like this one, which are ostensibly about budget cuts, but are often underlain by other issues to do with new working practices and the challenges of managing efficient working practices.

I dont know chapter and verse on the Essex case but I would be interested to look in more detail about how it manifests itself in the respective challenges rural and urban communities face in terms of the service they currently receive in the county.