Firefighters have urged wild campers to “think about the consequences of your actions” after a remote call-out took three hours of their time.
On call firefighters from Masham and a crew from Ripon responded to police reports of a fire near Roundhill Reservoir at 8.47pm on Saturday night.
The location, near Leighton Reservoir, is between Masham and Lofthouse.
Masham Fire Station said on social media the call was to a camp fire set up by a group of youngsters wild camping.
It added:
“The crews were unable to reach this destination by road so the crews had to walk over unknown ground from Roundhill Reservoir in the pitch dark using only torches.
“This not only put them in danger walking this area in the dark but was an unnecessary waste of resources which may have been required for another more serious incident elsewhere.
“This incident tied up both crews for up to three hours. Although it was only a campfire it could have been more serious.
“Please think about the consequences of your actions before wild camping in rural areas.”
It urged people to look at the picture of the location “to see what the conditions were like and imagine having to walk that in the pitch dark. Not fun.”
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