Farm blaze rips through barn

The fire broke out in a farm building on land off Robin House Lane, in Lane Bottom, yesterday morning.

A generator is believed to have sparked the barn blaze before the large quantity of farm diesel ignited and caused the fire to spread.

Explosion fears were raised because of gas cylinders in the barn which also contained three tractors and other agricultural equipment.

Six fire crews were called in to tackle the blaze and a one-mile hose relay had to be set up to pump water down to the scene from Halifax Road.

Firefighters entered the blazing barn with breathing apparatus and managed to pluck the gas cylinders from the flames.

Luckily, a huge 1,000 litre rainwater store had burst directly over the burning generator and helped damp down the fire.

Watch manager Neil Ashworth, of Burnley Fire Station, said: “A large quantity of red farm diesel caused the fire to spread rapidly. It was very hot and dangerous.

“It was lucky that the farm had a rainwater storage tank with 1,000 litres of water directly above the generator which melted and helped contain the fire. It was like its very own sprinkler system.”

Fire crews managed to salvage tractors and other equipment from the barn which was left damaged by the fire. The generator was completely destroyed.

Mr Ashworth added: “We are not treating it as suspicious. The best guess at the moment is that it was caused by the generator, but we will continue the investigation.”