‘This heatwave is no joke’
FIRE SERVICE ISSUES WARNING OVER CIGARETTES AND CAMP FIRES AS CREWS TACKLE WOODLAND AND GRASS BLAZES
FIRE crews were called to two incidents near the same Nottinghamshire woodland during a “busy evening” as temperatures soared on Monday night.
Tuxford Fire Station were first called to a fire on the pit tip behind Sherwood energy village in Ollerton.
Then, after dealing with that fire, they were approached by a member of the public on a bike telling them there was a fire at another pit tip.
This one was Ollerton pit woods off Newark Road, meaning the crews had to act quickly to get to the fire and put that one out.
They have urged members of the public to not discard cigarettes on the ground, not to light camp fires and to take empty bottles away with them and place them in bins.
A spokesperson for Tuxford Fire Station said: “Busy evening for the crew again last night – attending one incident on the pit tip behind Sherwood energy village in Ollerton. This was a difficult situation regarding access in order to get an appliance up there, as we had to negotiate a couple of gates to get close enough with the truck.
“Crew members went ahead on foot with beaters and knapsack sprayers to minimise the spread and environmental impact, bringing the fire under control swiftly and once the appliance arrives gave opportunity for one extended hosereel jet to reach the area, extinguish the fire completely and dampen down the surrounding area as well.”
The spokesperson continued: “Again, very similar in nature to the first incident, but this was spreading quite fast due to wind direction. “Luckily we were able to arrive promptly with water and it wasn’t too far from the main track. “Two crew members descended on it with beaters to stop the spread and this time we used two hosereel jets to get on top of it quickly.”
Earlier in the day, firefighters were called to Station Road, in the Nottinghamshire village of Eltonon-the-hill, off the A52.
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed crews there had been dealing with a grass fire for a “large part of the day” since 3pm.
Five fire engines in total were called to the scene of the incident from the Newark, London Road, West Bridgford and Grantham fire stations, and no injuries were reported.
Plumes of smoke could be seen for miles, and Twitter user @joffster1234lee captured how bad the smoke was from the A52.
A Tweet said: “Just drove through the smoke, like an apocalypse. Stay safe out there. This heatwave is no joke.”
Luckily we were able to arrive promptly with water and it wasn’t too far from the main track. Spokesperson