Residents and farmers urged to take extra care after busy day for fire crews in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service is asking people across the county to take extra care following a busy day of incidents for fire crews yesterday (July 7).

Resources are being stretched with fire crews committed around the county attending incidents that have started in very dry conditions due to the warm weather. Yesterday, crews were called to 48 incidents, including several field fires caused by farm machinery.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Services is asking residents and farmers for their support to help prevent fires that where they can.

People are being asked not to hold bonfires on their properties; and take extra care if using barbecues in gardens to avoid flames spreading to fences or hedges.

Some of the bigger incidents yesterday included:

• Four crews, including one from Leicestershire, attended a large fire on farmland on Sulby Hall Old Drive in Sulby, at around 12:40pm (pictured above). Firefighters used hose-reel jets, beaters and wildfire backpacks to put out the fire that had damaged a combine harvester and spread to 15 acres of land.
• Shortly after 2pm we were called to an agricultural building fire at a farm on Raunds Road in Chelveston. Crews from Earls Barton, Wellingborough, Mereway, Kettering and Irthlingborough attended and found manure alight inside a barn. Firefighters used four appliance pumps and hose reel jets to tackle the fire, working alongside the farmer.
• Just before 4pm, we were called to reports of a combine harvester and large amount of hedgerow and crops involved in a field fire near Yelvertoft. Crews from Daventry, Rothwell, Mereway and Kettering used hose reel jets to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started accidentally. An after-fire inspection is taking place today and hotspots continue to be monitored.
• Firefighters tackled a large field fire in Church Stowe after a hay baler had overheated and caught fire. Two crews attended the incident just after 5pm and used hose reel jets, wildfire backpacks and beaters to put the fire out, which had spread to two fields across 10 acres of land.
• Crews attended a fire in a commercial premises on West Street in Moulton, shortly after 5pm, which had started in the kitchen and spread to the roof. Five fire crews attended the incident and wore breathing apparatus and used water jets to put it out.
• Shortly after 9pm, crews from Desborough and Mereway attended a house fire in Newton Road, Northampton. Firefighters extinguished a fire in a front bedroom. The fire caused significant damage to the room and smoke affected the property. The cause was found to be an accidental electrical fault.

Group Manager Neil Sadler said: “Although we were very busy yesterday, we were able to sufficiently cover all parts of the county safely throughout the day. As well as our own incidents, we deployed a large number of resources to assist other emergency services, including at a railway incident in Bugbrooke and supporting police in St Andrew’s Road in Northampton after the discovery of a suspicious device.

“However we had several fires yesterday that could have been prevented, and that potentially diverts resources away from critical incidents. So we would ask residents to remain alert and follow the safety advice that we are putting out on our social media feeds to try and prevent any further incidents that may stretch our resources.

“Please ensure that any cigarettes or barbecues are safely disposed of, and ensure you stay safe in and around the water. Please only call 999 if it’s a genuine emergency, as our Fire Control operators are extremely busy taking calls and deploying resources to these incidents.

“We would also ask the farming community to take extra care, as overheated machinery can cause field fires that require many fire crews to attend and prevent the flames from spreading further.”