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Firefighters battle large field fire in Drayton
13/08/2022
A nearby villager says: “We are OK – so grateful they came out as quickly as they did and put it out”
A fire in a farm field on Saturday afternoon came to within just one field from houses in Drayton and the Banbury Chase estate on the Warwick Road. It took fire fighters around two hours to extinguish the blaze on land that used to be home to Drayton Golf Course.
The fire is believed to have broken out at around 4pm. Those living close by said they could hear it and others were able to see the plumes of smoke rising.
Its believed the fire started in dry grassland next to a lake, and then spread.
A number of crews attended the fire after the alarm was raised, with three engines and two smaller vehicles in Drayton. Access to the field was difficult with firefighters having to trek water up to the fire.
A farmer assisted fire crews by using ploughs to break the ground.
It took two hours to bring the blaze under control.
Colleen Keenan-Timms lives nearby and saw the fire approaching her home. She said: “We are OK, just so grateful they came out as quickly as they did and put it out.
“The firefighters were amazing. They were from as far as Bicester, helping out.”
In appreciation of the crews’ work, especially as the temperatures at the time were around 33 Celsius, Colleen and her daughters provided the hard working firefighters with refreshments.
She said: “We tried to supply everyone with ice water and cold cans. My twin daughters loved passing out the water!”
Earlier during the weekend, on Friday evening fire crews were called to a field fire on land on the Banbury side of Bloxham, just past the Warriner School. The A361 was closed for a time whilst fire fighters dealt with the situation.
We’ll have more details on both fires as further information becomes available.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam