Fire on 1,000ft TV mast put out, but fears remain over structural integrity

An exclusion zone has been established at the Bilsdale transmitting centre on the North York Moors.

A fire at a remote 1,000ft TV transmitter mast that disrupted broadcasts in North Yorkshire and Teesside has been extinguished – but concerns remain over its structural integrity.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS) said a 300 metre (984ft) exclusion zone has been put in place around the Bilsdale transmitting centre, high on the North York Moors, north of Helmsley.

Eight pumps and crews from across the region were sent to tackle the blaze, with the first call coming at 13.19pm from an engineer working at the transmitter.

NYFRS said the engineer “believed the mast was on fire due to smoke coming from below the first stay level” – about 50-60 metres (164-196ft) up – with calls coming from members of the public who also spotted the smoke from a distance.

In an update on Tuesday evening, the service said it worked in “difficult circumstances” and extinguished a fire in a “single-storey stone building” and the 315 metre (1,032ft) mast.

It added: “Only one building in a complex of four was affected and there are concerns about the structural integrity of the mast.

Smoke can be seen rising from the tower (Ron Needham)

“Eight pumps from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the incident and firefighting has now ceased until the site has been confirmed as safe for further work.”

NYFRS said it would be working on Wednesday with Arqiva, the site operators, “to bring the incident to a safe conclusion”.

Earlier on Tuesday, the fire was understood to be affecting transmission of a range of TV broadcasts, including Freeview coverage.

The transmitter tower was built in 1969 and currently supplies digital TV signals to a large area of north-east England.

A spokesman for Arqiva said: “The fire at Bilsdale has caused damage to our equipment and we are currently unable to broadcast TV and radio services from this site.

“Bilsdale is under the control of the fire services. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

A BBC spokesman said: “TV and radio services are being disrupted in parts of North Yorkshire and Teesside following a fire at the Bilsdale transmitter.

“We’re in close contact with the company that runs the transmitter who are working on restoring services.

“For those in the affected area, BBC Radio Tees is still available on BBC Sounds and online, as are the BBC’s other radio stations. BBC TV can be viewed through BBC iPlayer and on cable and satellite platforms.”

Ron Needham, 71, and his wife Sue, 69, who were out on hiking on the moors on Tuesday afternoon, witnessed smoke coming off the TV transmitter.

The couple from Wakefield stopped for lunch at the base of the mast during their 10-11-mile hike and noticed “nothing untoward at that stage”, Mr Needham said.

Picking up their route along Cow Ridge, the hikers were about a mile and a half away when they glanced back at the mast at about 1.15pm.

“There was smoke coming out of the top a bit like a chimney,” Mr Needham said.

The couple sat and watched the smoke until they saw “a huge black cloud of smoke come from the buildings at the bottom”.

Mr Needham said the sight left them “a little bit worried”, adding that the mast “is almost a friend of ours”, with the couple hiking the same route two or three times a year.

“It’s something that you see from all over the moors, a bit of a landmark,” he said.

“By the time we left the moor and got back down to our car along a narrow moorland road the smoke had stopped, so we assumed it was under control and then a fire engine came flying down this narrow moorland road.”

Mr Needham added: “The initial thoughts were that it was something of a disaster.”