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Farmer praises 'amazing' response to field fire

Samantha WhelanYorkshire
Kate Balchin A partially charred field can be seen down a gentle slope, with long grass in the foreground of the photo. Smoke is rising from the blackened ground, and there are six tractors around or on it. There are also two fire engines and a car parked on the field. There is a hedge and another untouched field to the right of the image.Kate Balchin
About 10 to 15 people helped fire crews tackle the blaze at the farm in Hunmanby

A farmer and brewer has praised residents living nearby her premises after they came together to help tackle a field fire.

The blaze affected four fields at Hunmanby Grange Farm on Sunday and was believed to have been sparked by an overheated baler, according to Kate Balchin, farmer and director of Wold Top Brewery.

After seeing smoke, neighbours had arrived within 10 minutes offering to help, while others in the community responded after seeing a social media post, Balchin said.

"It was just amazing to see everybody just come together and work to try and sort out a problem," she explained.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service crews from eight stations also attended the scene.

About 10 to 15 people came to firefighters' aid, assisting in "five to six hours of firefighting", Balchin said.

Kate Balchin A woman stands in front of a stack of beer kegs, leaning on them. She has pale skin, light brown hair, and is smiling. She's wearing an orange and brown hairband, a grey t shirt with 'Wold Top' written on it, a light coloured button up shirt over the top, blue jeans, and a brown belt. She is also wearing a smart watch.Kate Balchin
Kate says she is now focused on getting "everything back up and running"

The barley crops used for the brewery's beer had been gathered in just the day before, but some bales intended for use as livestock feed and bedding were burned, the farmer and brewer said.

"It is just so dry and hot that these kind of overheating and machinery fires and things just sparking from the little tiniest bit are definitely more worrying than they have been previously," Balchin said.

"It was particularly windy on Sunday afternoon and the direction of the wind just took it and ran with it."

The local community sprang into action, assisting with monitoring the blaze and "using fire extinguishers on a kind of targeted basis", she said.

"Then, when some of the guys arrived with tractors with cultivators on the back, they started just immediately going around the edges of the fires...making sure it couldn't go any further than it had already got."

Balchin said that since the fire had been successfully extinguished, she was hoping to get "extra measures" in place in case of a similar incident in future.

"We're just recouping and getting on top of what we've lost and what we need to get on with replacing," she added.

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