Firefighters called to huge blaze involving 40 acres of crop on farmland as smoke seen billowing across part of Northamptonshire
Firefighters were called to a huge fire on farmland in Northamptonshire, which involved around 40 acres of crop.
The incident happened at around 5.20pm on Wednesday July 8 at a farm in Weedon Bec.
Smoke could be seen billowing for hours across surrounding villages and the west side of Northampton.
The fire had also spread to hedgerows and a tree, which crews had to extinguish.
A spokesman for Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) said: “Crews from Daventry, Mereway, Towcester, Moulton, Kettering, Oundle and Woodford Halse attended the incident, which involved approximately 40 acres of standing crop.
“Firefighters worked quickly to prevent the fire from spreading further across the field and surrounding areas.
"Multiple hose reel jets, wildfire backpacks, beaters and other equipment were used to extinguish the fire and damp down hotspots. Crews also tackled fire spread within hedgerows and extinguished a tree that had become involved.
“Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service’s drone was deployed to identify remaining hotspots, allowing crews to carry out targeted damping down operations around the perimeter of the field.
“The cause of the fire is believed to have been accidental, with initial indications suggesting a stone became caught in the mechanism of a combine harvester, creating sparks that ignited the dry crop.”
The incident scene is still being monitored by the fire service on Thursday July 9, in case of any signs of reignition.