Firefighters have responded to a blaze which engulfed 70 tonnes of baled straw at a Nottinghamshire farm overnight.
Firefighters were called to the well-developed flames in Kirton Road, Egmanton, a small village near Tuxford, at 2.19am in the early hours of Wednesday morning (November 8).
A statement released by Tuxford fire station crew said: "This was approximately 70 tonnes of baled straw well alight with a farm trailer that was severely damaged by fire.
"The farmer used machinery to move some of the affected bales to reduce the risk of spreading to neighbouring hedges while crews used a reel to damp down the surrounding undergrowth."
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said the incident is ongoing. It is not yet known if the fire was started deliberately.
He told the Nottingham Post: "Although we don't have any appliances there at the minute, we are going back later to check it."
Increased farm fires
A sharp rise in farm fires has prompted a rural insurer to call for farmers to check their fire prevention and evacuation procedures.
This week alone, fire crews from across Cheshire spent several hours tackling a blaze caused by an electrical fault on a farm near Chester.
Police are investigating into the possibility of arson at a Staffordshire farm after 300 tonnes of wood chip were set alight on Saturday (4 November).
Firefighters battled a huge fire on a Scottish farm where more than 700 hay bales were caught alight in October, and in September, hundreds of tonnes of straw were set on fire at a farm in Cambridgeshire.
A blaze that torched more than £150,000 worth of straw in a suspected arson attack in Nottinghamshire was described as one of the largest ever in the UK.
