WALKERS have been reminded to take extra precautions after another two moor fires in East Lancashire.

The warning came after firefighters from across the region were called to tackle blazes in both Darwen and Bacup today.

Smoke could be seen rising high into the sky above the Darwen Tower as four crews tackled the blaze at around 6.10pm.

Earlier, firefighters from Bacup were joined by a specialist unit while they put out a one square mile blaze above Lee quarry and Cowm quarry.

Alan Wright from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust said moorland fires have a 'devastating effect' on animals and birds living there.

He said: "At this time of year, the fire will have had a massive impact on birds that are nesting up there.

"Some of them may even have laid eggs.

"We have really iconic moorland birds like the black cap curlew and skylarks, and we have grouse, birds of prey.

"And it's an important area for deer and vole and other smaller creatures too.

"Animals and birds do die in fires like this."

He added: "People should not be selfish. They should think about wildlife and other people.

"Not as many people smoke today as they used to but they should be careful about throwing cigarettes and we definitely don't want people to do it on purpose, with vandalism and arson a problem we have got in Lancashire."

Earlier this month, firefighters tackled a huge blaze on moorland about Darwen, when two square miles of grass and peatland went up in flames.

The same day, crews also fought fire in Bacup, again above Lee quarry.

Fire service spokesman John Taylor said: "On moorland, when you get rain it's still quite dry because it drains so efficiently.

"It's on a slope and the water rapidly disappears.

"Then the surface heats up because of the warm weather, and just a few days of warm weather is enough for it to ignite.

"It does not need to be scorching."