Play our part and cut out the fire risk
I think the summer heatwave may have had a more significant impact on some than others, with more than a few brain cells melted.
With record temperatures, tinder dry ground everywhere and rain evaporating before it has even touched down, you would think the common sense button would have been pushed hard.
Don’t chuck away cigarette ends and don’t have camp fires in the open countryside where there are vast acres of bone dry crops nearby – yet we’ve seen fires spread because of both.
When it comes to Shropshire’s public, countryside, spaces, please remember that disposable barbecues are a recipe for disaster in dry weather – even if the sausages or burgers are British.
Granted, some fires over the past month have been accidental, but it’s simply frightening that others haven’t been.
The NFU has been busy liaising with county firefighters and given guidance to farmers about machinery maintenance during harvest too.
So it’s up to all of us, we all need to have a think and take care and perhaps do the fire service a favour – there have been a lot of callouts in the past four weeks that should have been avoided.
Let’s all play a part and cut out the fire risk to protect ourselves, crops, countryside and wildlife.
Oliver Cartwright is a spokesman for the NFU
