Fire on Maltby pit top burning for five days

The blaze was first reported to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue at around 4.30pm on Friday, June 29.

One appliance from Maltby station attended Beresford Road, which is on the pit top’s west flank.

Firefighters have visited the scene on-and-off since then, as the deep-seated fire continues slowly burning.

They were at the site at around 11am this morning (Wednesday), though they were not present this afternoon.

A team is due to return tomorrow morning (Thursday) to reassess the fire, a service spokeswoman said.

She added: "This is a deep-seated fire, which keeps reigniting."

Maltby residents posted pictures and their experiences of the fire on the New Maltby Crime Awareness Facebook page.

Michelle Thompson described “really thick smoke”, while Kathryn Merry added: “It smells bad too. Had to shut windows and doors.”

Tracy Davies posted: “I’ve just been up high street — was like a fog!”

Vanessa Green added: “I can see the smoke from up near The Haynook” — a pub nearly two miles away.

Terri Pevalin posted: “I’ve just had to bring my washing in. I can also smell it in house, had to close the windows.”