A huge fire which torched 285 hectares of moorland and took three days to put out was started by a man who set off a firework in front of his girlfriend, a court heard.
Viktor Riedly, had intended to record the bang caused by the firecracker he had hauled to the top of Marsden Moor, between Oldham and Huddersfield, when it sparked a 60-hour fire and a response from 100 firefighters, YorkshireLive reports.
The 28-year-old, from Huddersfield, West York, tried to put out the fire with a two-litre bottle of water and threw mud at it in a bid to stop it spreading, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Eddison Flint told the court that Riedly's moorland stunt cost the council £400,000 and fire crews spent three continuous days trying to put the
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