FIRE crews from six stations spent the night battling a large fire in the open near Milton Abbot.

The incident, which occurred on August 25 at just after 2.30am, involved fire crews from Holsworthy, Tavistock, Bere Alston, Princetown, Okehampton and Yelverton stations battling the fire front comprising approximately 1,000 foot in length.

A spokesperson for Holsworthy Fire Station said: “Our fire engine with a crew of five was mobilised to the above location as a relief pump for an ongoing large fire involving trees, brambles and vegetation on a steep hillside. Initial attending crews were mobilised early yesterday evening.

“Our crew took over various duties, like command support, pumping water from a lake via a light portable pump to the incident ground, dampening down numerous flare ups and hotspots on the fire ground using hosereel jet and a 45mm jet whilst negotiating the challenging terrain. We were relieved by Yelverton, and closed home station at 12.30pm, to clean and service equipment ready for the next shout.”

At the time of the incident, a spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: “Several crews are making efforts to extinguish a fire which started in a field near Milton Abbot.

“Local crews along with support from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service fire fighters are making steady progress extinguishing the fire which escalated to 1000ft fire front at one stage in an area of quarry land.

“Specialist firefighting vehicles and the use of a drone has enabled the fire to be contained and hotspots are now being dampened down.

“Crews worked throughout the night and made steady progress damping down hot spots utilising hose reel jets, 45mm jets, scotty packs, thermal image cameras and light portable pumps.

“The drone was redeployed at approximately 11am and is being used to identify any hot spots in the area.”