OXFORDSHIRE’S fire service has reported that ‘young adults’ deliberately started a hay fire which could’ve become a larger field blaze.
The crew from Henley fire station attended the fire, which involved approximately 15 bales of hay in a field just outside Sonning Common.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was called at 4.34pm on July 1, and left the scene just over an hour later.
An early call to the emergency services allowed the crew to stop the blaze from becoming a ‘larger field fire’, the fire service reported.
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The fire service added in a post online: “After chatting to witnesses it was made clear that this was deliberate arson from a group of young adults.
“With the weather heating up over the next week or so, we want to put out this message that fires like this can have a huge impact on the local environment, monetary value of a farmer’s crop and also having a crew at this incident for a prolonged amount of time, unable to respond to other incidents.”
Oxfordshire County Council reported that arson is currently suspected.
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This story was written by Liam Rice, he joined the team in 2019 as a multimedia reporter.
Liam covers politics, travel and transport. He occasionally covers Oxford United.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Liam.rice@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter @OxMailLiamRice
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