Warnings issued over 'unusually' high number of farm fires

Shropshire Fire and Rescue have, in recent weeks, seen an increase in barn and farm fires.

On Wednesday alone, two barns went up in smoke in Lilleshall and Crosshouses. A day earlier, fire crews battled a blaze at a barn in Church Stretton.

Last week, another barn fire near Bridgnorth forced firefighters to issue warnings to residents to keep windows closed, and a large fire involving 400 tonnes of straw and manure in Tasley caused much of Bridgnorth to be shrouded in smoke.

On Thursday, the service's head of prevention and protection, Scott Bishop, called the recent bout 'unusual'.

He said: "It is an unusual amount. We've had seven significant farm fires in the last four months, two in the last two days.

"Our specialist fire investigation teams have found on a number of occasions that they believe the cause of the fire has come from storage of hay that has gone through a chemical reaction within the bails or piles.

"The reaction has created a significant amount of heat, which then leads to the hay catching fire.

"There have been farm fires from machinery getting too hot, but investigations from the most recent two have followed a systematic, scientific approach to identifying the causes. And that's been whittled down to being the storage of hay as the cause.

"There's been a bit of background research on this and some discussions with farmers, and there's been discussions about it may have been influenced by the recent hot weather being a factor or the timing of the harvest of the hay.

Tackling the large fires in rural Shropshire hasn't been without its struggles.

Scott explained: "The challenges are in and around water supplies in the rural community, the quantity of water we require to control these fires is significant.

"We have strategically placed water bowsers and we have a strategy in place to deal with it, but it is a challenge.

"The roadways in and around the rural areas are also quite narrow, to support the movements of our vehicles requires us to close roads which has an impact on the wider community."

These large-scale fires not only have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of Shropshire farmers but also require a significant number of multi-agency resources.

Scott said: "They become so significant that they require road closures and police and ambulance involvement - if we can prevent them, that's the way forward."

The fire service has issued advice for farmers to help prevent the fires, which includes a risk assessment and arson reduction checklist, information is available online at: shropshirefire.gov.uk/safety-community/farm-fire-safety-information

As the warm weather begins to dry out Shropshire's greenery, the fire service is also issuing warnings to members of the public to help prevent wildfires.

Scott said: "Fortunately, we've had a bit of cooler weather and rain which has been fantastic, but as we approach the drier season it will have a dramatic impact on the number of wildfires.

"Everyone can play a part in preventing that, from avoiding careless use of disposable BBQs to not leaving glass in sunlight."