Dozens of firefighters tackle barn blaze

Dozens of firefighters were called to tackle a large barn fire  involving 4,000 litres of diesel near Exeter in the early hours of today (Sunday 9 August).

Fire engines from Middlemoor, Danes Castle and Topsham were sent  to the blaze at New House Farm in Clyst Honiton at around 1am.

On arrival crews requested a fourth appliance. The water bowser from Danes Castle and the incident command unit from Honiton were also sent, and the fourth appliance came from Ottery St Mary.

Crews then requested the environmental protection unit, which was mobilised from Newton Abbot due to asbestos involved in the fire. Western Power was also required due to overhead cables being involved.

At 1.54am crews requested a second water bowser, which was mobilised from Bridgwater, and confirmed the fire involved 4000 litres of diesel, and a 20m by 20m barn. At this point crews were using two main jets on the fire.

At 2.34am crews requested a further two appliances. These came from Exmouth and Crediton.

At 3.30am crews requested an appliance with compressed air foam making capability, which was mobilised from Honiton, and also the high volume pump, located at Clyst St George.

At 6.30am, crews were still making good progress at the incident, and began making a start removing hay from the barn. The incident started to scale back, and some crews left the scene.

At 11am reported that steady progress had been made, removing barn contents and damping down.

Update at 2pm -  Crews removing unburnt corn from the barn into field and continuing to turn over and damp  down.