Overview
- The multi-agency 'Don't Spark Disaster' campaign was launched in late June 2026 and will run through the summer to warn people that small actions can start large moorland fires.
- The initiative is led by the North York Moors National Park Authority with North Yorkshire Council funding and partners including the Yorkshire Dales authority, Forestry England and North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.
- North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has issued advisory warnings and a video explaining how discarded cigarettes, glass bottles, disposable barbecues and unattended campfires can ignite dry vegetation.
- The campaign provides a free toolkit of posters, digital graphics and social media assets for businesses and community groups to amplify prevention messages across outdoor advertising, e‑newsletters and social channels.
- Organisers stress the urgency because peat and moorland recover very slowly, last year’s Fylingdales Moor fire still scars the landscape and farmers cannot yet use some grazing land, and recent fires linked to disposable barbecues show the risk remains high.