Farmers urged to remain vigilant this weekend following field fires in village near Northampton

Farmers are being urged to remain vigilant this weekend as hot weather increases the risk of field fires in Northamptonshire.

It comes after Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) were called to a crop fire in Glassthorpe Lane, Harpole, at 12.10pm on Thursday (July 14).

Crews from The Mounts, Moulton, Mereway and Towcester tackled two fires in two fields that were involving standing crops. They used a hose reel jet and beaters to bring the fire under control – but crucially the use of a farmer’s plough was used to create fire breaks and stop it from spreading further.

The cause of the fire is believed to be due to the hot weather, and with temperatures set to be above 30 degrees in the coming days the risk of further incidents is possible.

Station Manager Scott Hirons said: “We know that farmers will be working this weekend due to the weather forecast, and we would urge them to be on guard as the hot weather does increase the risk of crop fires starting, and they can quickly become out of control.

“We would urge all farmers to be prepared by ensuring they have a plough attached to their tractor as this will help to create a fire break, and as we saw yesterday, this greatly helped us in tackling the blaze and preventing it from escalating.”