Farmers save thousands of pigs by creating fire blocks during blaze

800sq metres of crops has been destroyed after the huge field fire (Photo: Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service)
800sq metres of crops has been destroyed after the huge field fire (Photo: Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service)

Farmers saved thousands of pigs from a huge farmland blaze by creating fire blocks on the edges of their fields to stop it spreading.

The fire started on Saturday (14 July) at Ewelme Downe Farm, near Wallington in Oxfordshire, spreading to more than 800sq metres.

The blaze, which is believed to have started accidentally, was battled by crews from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.

Local farmers and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service feared that the "significant" fire could spread to a nearby farm that houses thousands of pigs.

The fire service said the incident was "very challenging", but was "aided greatly" by farmers who created fire breaks around the outside of fields by ploughing through the crop.

Oxfordshire fire service group manager said the farmers "identified the presence of fire immediately".

"Fortunately, this helped us in preventing the fire spreading to a nearby pig farm, as well as other buildings," he said.

The National Police Air Service also offered air support to help direct firefighters to the edges of the blaze.

The fire destroyed more than 800 sq metres of crops.

Conditions are dryer than the fabled summer of 1976 and its putting UK farms at high risk of devastating fires.

It follows recent moorland and gorse fires seen throughout the UK during the ongoing heatwave, most notably at Saddleworth Moor, Winter Hill and Glenshane Pass, Northern Ireland.

A farmer has highlighted the destruction of the Saddleworth Moor fire, and how one gamekeeper lost everything because of it.