Firefighters battle crop blaze near Stonehenge

The owners of a farm near Stonehenge that saw acres of crops destroyed by fire have praised the "heroic efforts" of firefighters.

A smoke plume could be seen for miles around during the fire at Springbottom Farm, near Wilsford, about two miles south of the historic stones in Wiltshire.

Several crews responded to the blaze at 15:53 BST on Saturday.

Farm owner, Ed Bailey, described the fire as "very frightening indeed".

He said he had been cutting wheat during the afternoon when he saw the flames and quickly phoned 999 and raced to get a water bowser and pump.

"On returning it was immediately apparent that the bowser was redundant," he said. "The fire had taken hold and was spreading rapidly.

"By this time the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was already on the scene, as was a tractor and cultivator from Huntley Agriculture, which was making a fire break."

But Mr Bailey said that in a "very short space of time" acres of wheat had "disappeared, literally gone up in smoke".

He added: "Thanks to the heroic efforts of the fire service and Huntley Agriculture, the fire was contained and then put out.

"Luckily nobody was hurt, and no machinery was lost, but it was frightening, very frightening indeed."

Mr Bailey thanked his neighbours, friends and "even complete strangers" who came to help.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said engines with off-road capability, water carriers and beaters were all used to put out the flames.

Crews from Salisbury and Amesbury, off-road engines from Poole and Christchurch, a small 4x4 pumping appliance from Cranborne, and water carriers from Wilton and Andover, all attended the crop fire near Woodford Valley Road, leaving by 18:30 BST.

In a tweet, the fire service said such blazes remained "a massive concern for us, with the conditions so dry and no rain in sight".

It added that last month, it attended 339 fires in the open, compared to 120 last July - an increase of 182%.

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