Unfortunately, this year we fell victim to a surprisingly rare occurence of a field fire. Considering the required dry conditions for harvest this is only the third time in my lifetime that I can remember a harvest time fire and this is by far the most destructive.
The fire took hold on the field known as Hungry Hill towards the Meppershall end of the farm. A freak incident saw a spark from the combine of our contractor Mark Brinkley set light to our yet to be harvested wheat which quickly consumed a few acres. All of Mark’s machinery and employees thankfully escaped unharmed, there was also some light damage to one of Mark’s fields but this was already stubble.
Luckily a water bowser (tank) is always on hand during harvest and this along with a nearby drill managed to put a temporary boundary between the blazing section and the rest of the crop. Several fire engines attended the blaze and soon had it under control.
The field will recover, as will the hedgerows which only received superficial damage. It did prove an interesting site, as shown in the video below taken by John Balladear.
