Harrogate firefighters dealt with five field fires on the hottest day of the year today.
On a day when North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident due to the number of call-outs, the crew at Harrogate attended three major fires.
At first they were called to a blaze near Forest Lane in Harrogate at about 1pm where an area of woodland measuring 20m x 20m had caught fire. Harrogate fire station put on Facebook:
“We believe a discarded cigarette, or strong sunlight shining through a broken glass bottle may have caused the fire.”
After extinguishing the fire, one of the Harrogate appliances was sent to a standing crop on fire in a field near Marton cum Grafton, between Boroughbridge and Knaresborough.
The fire station said on Facebook:
“Due to the extremely dry conditions the fire caught hold of four fields very quickly. The wind direction kept changing making the condition challenging.
“Fire crews also came to help from Knaresborough fire station, Ripon, Acom, and the water bowser from Tadcaster.
“Crews worked hard in the extreme heat (nearly 40 degrees!) to extinguish the fire using hosereel jets, main branches and beaters.
“Thanks also goes to the farmers for helping out and putting a fire break in the crop.”
While this was going on, the second Harrogate fire engine was called to a field on fire near Northallerton.
Read more:
“As you can imagine, the ground is tinder-dry at the moment making it easy for fire to spread quickly.
“So please do be careful if you are out and about. Make sure you discard cigarettes carefully and avoid having barbecues.”
