Lincolnshire: Farmers and fire crews team up to tackle field blazes

New adapters to connect fire appliances to farmers' water tanks are being used at remote fires far from water hydrants

Lincolnshire's farmers and fire crews have teamed up to help tackle field fires in the county.

Double the number of wildfires have broken out in Lincolnshire in summer 2022 compared to the previous year, according to the fire service.

Funds have now been raised by farmers and the National Farmers' Union (NFU) to buy adapters to attach firefighters' pumps to farmers' water tanks.

The tanks hold much more water than fire appliances, the NFU said.

Half of the county's fire appliances have now been fitted with the special adapters, the NFU says

Half the county's 48 fire engines now have access to the adapters, which have been made in Lincolnshire, the union added.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service said its crews had dealt with 607 wildfires between April and July this year - up from 286 over the same period last year.

These included crop, grassland and woodland blazes, fire officers said.

The hottest ever temperature in the UK was recorded in Lincolnshire on 19 July, with thermometers hitting 40.3C (104.5F) in Coningsby.

The adapters mean firefighters can access much larger amounts of water, Jamie Patton from Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service says

Jamie Patton, from Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the new adapters meant firefighters could access large amounts of water at the site of fires too far from hydrants or natural water sources.

"You could be a long way from a decent water supply and at a field fire the water from a fire appliance could be used up in just a few minutes," Mr Patton said.

Ian Watson, a farm manager in Louth, said farmers in Lincolnshire had been sponsored by the NFU to get as many of the adapters onto fire appliances as possible.

Mr Watson said: "Our aim is to very soon have every single fire truck in Lincolnshire fitted with an adapter so it can connect not only to a farmer's mobile bowser, but also to a tank in their farmyard."

Rhonda Thompson, from the NFU, says the collaboration between farmers and the fire service should make people feel safer

Over the last six months more than 1,000 farmers have attended fire training organised by the NFU and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue.

Rhonda Thompson, from the NFU, said: "We had a fire on the hottest day this year where we were just metres from it reaching a grain store and a propane tank and there were four houses nearby.

"So knowing there were farmers who are trained and equipped to turn out with water sources to help firefighters put out some of these dreadful fires that have been going on in the last few weeks makes you feel a lot safer."