Thermal drones target hidden wildfire hotspots in northwest England peatlands
United Utilities is using thermal drones to find hidden wildfire hotspots under northwest England’s peat moorlands. The water company has deployed the aircraft after recent moorland fires left a risk of underground heat pockets reigniting despite cooler weather and rain.
The fires broke out at the end of June and drew a prolonged emergency response across affected catchments. Surface flames are no longer visible, but peat can retain heat below ground, creating hotspots that are difficult to detect from the surface. United Utilities said drones fitted with thermal cameras are scanning large areas from the air, identifying heat signatures and passing GPS coordinates to crews on the ground.
Lindsay Page, United Utilities’ lead for Water Services in Greater Manchester, said the response had involved company teams, fire and rescue services, the RSPB, Derbyshire Mountain Rescue, Peak District National Park and other partners working for several weeks. Ground monitoring remains difficult because crews must search wide areas for smoke or other surface signs while operating in challenging terrain and carrying heavy water loads. Page said the thermal drones are helping teams focus resources on the right locations at the right time.
At the peak of the fires, United Utilities provided several helicopters to support firefighting operations. The company said the helicopters made about 2,000 trips and dropped more than 20 million liters of water, while fire and rescue services also pumped water directly from reservoirs. Major incidents have since been scaled back, but catchment teams continue to patrol Dovestones and Tintwistle to locate and extinguish remaining hotspots.
United Utilities had already trained staff as drone pilots for inspections of assets in remote areas and has now expanded that capability with thermal imaging. Temporary dams holding thousands of liters of water remain across the moors to give crews nearby supplies for hotspot suppression. The company said the drones could also support environmental monitoring, infrastructure assessment and possible water leak detection, underscoring their role in reducing reignition risk and improving operations across hard-to-reach terrain.