The hero farmer who took the fight against wildfires into his own hands by plowing through his crops to create a trench to prevent the huge wall of flames from reaching the house
- Firefighters were called to the scene to fight the blaze that broke out on Saturday
- The fire at Lenham Heath in Kent was seen on M20 by drivers in line
- Farmer Bill Alexander ‘quickly stepped in’ and used a tractor to cut crops around the fire to slow it down after wind directed the blaze at a house
This is the incredible moment when a brave farmer in Kent continued to work to slow a raging bushfire that spread across a field.
Firefighters were called to the scene to deal with a massive crop fire that broke out in a field in Lenham Heath, between Maidstone and Ashford, in Kent, just before 3.15pm on Saturday.
The inferno spread across nearly 20 acres of land and could be seen by a huge line of lorry drivers on the M20.
But hero farmer Bill Alexander “quickly stepped in” and used his tractor to mow the crops around the fire to slow it down after the wind directed the fire toward a house.
Footage showed the green tractor just meters away from the massive inferno as Mr. Alexander fearlessly drove the vehicle around the towering smoke and flames.
Firefighters were called to the scene to deal with a massive crop fire that broke out in a field in Lenham Heath, between Maidstone and Ashford, in Kent, just before 3.15pm on Saturday.
The inferno spread across nearly 20 acres of land and could be seen by a huge line of lorry drivers on the M20
Andy Barr, owner of the farm in Kent, praised his “good neighbor” for his “hero” actions and tweeted the image of the tractor mowing the crops.
He wrote: ‘Please tell everyone to be careful what they do along roads and trails, 20 acres of spring barley in flames.
‘This photo of my son was when the wind turned to my brother’s house, luckily Bill Alexander and Jonny & Ellie from TCAgri saved the day.’
The fire was eventually extinguished after 90 minutes and local residents were also brought to safety.
A fire service spokesman said: ‘We received reports of a standing grain fire in fields on Lenham Heath.
“The crew worked hard to bring the fire under control, which covered approximately eight hectares, the equivalent of nearly 20 hectares.
The fire has been brought under control and extinguished. The fire brigade rescued people who were in the area. There are no reports of injuries.’
Farmer Bill Alexander ‘quickly stepped in’ and used his tractor to cut crops around the fire to help slow it down after winds directed the blaze at a house
Kent ranch owner Andy Barr praised his ‘good neighbor’ for his ‘hero’ actions
The blaze comes after a series of bushfires that broke out in the UK this week as families fled for their lives amid fires across the country in a record heat of 40.3C.
Firefighters described the fires that swept through homes and buildings in London on Tuesday as ‘absolute hell’ – with residents being evacuated after houses were destroyed, two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation and 1,600 calls for help.
Elsewhere in the country, hundreds of firefighters battled raging infernos in Wales, Scotland and the rest of England, while dry ‘tinderbox’ conditions in the UK sparked bushfires threatening homes, animals and people.
Fire services in London, Hertfordshire, Bucks, South Yorkshire, Suffolk and Leicestershire announced major incidents as they were hit by tens of thousands of phone calls after an extraordinary week of weather in which the UK hit a new record high of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees) ). F) Tuesday at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, beating the previous record of 38.7C (101.7F) at Cambridge in 2019.