Barn fire at St Owens Cross
Three fire crews from Ross and one from Whitchurch were called out to tackle a fire at a farm in St Owens Cross in Herefordshire yesterday afternoon (Thursday 9 September).
The call came through just after 3.30pm and on arrival, firefighters found a fire in a 25m x 10m barn containing agricultural equipment and a significant quantity of agro-chemicals. Using three hose reels and two main jets, they managed to contain the fire within three quarters of an hour although damping down continued for some time afterwards.
Station Manager Neil Lilwall explained: "This was a good stop with the on-call fire crews working extremely hard to bring the fire under control. They used water spray to keep the agro-chemical storage area cool and although there was some decomposition of the chemicals, at least they were not involved in the fire."
No one was hurt during the incident although a tractor and some agricultural equipment suffered extensive fire damage.
Due to the presence of agro-chemicals at the premises, the Hazmat Officer from Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency attended.
