01/08/10…UPDATE – Cars damaged in Thame Show blaze

TWENTY TWO cars were damaged by fire at Thame Show yesterday, when a fire in a car park in a stubble field spread to a near-by field, setting alight 50,000 sq M of stubble and crop.

Forty firefighters from four fire stations, including Thame, Wheatley and Oxford were called to reports of a blaze at the showground in Kingsey Road, Thame, at 4.15pm.

Watch Manager at Thame fire station, Andy Ford, said: “Members of the show staff were already trying to put out areas of the fire and the initial fire crews? priority were the cars. Fire fighters got to work and extinguished the areas around the parked cars and any that were starting to burn.

“The fire spread very rapidly across the field driven by a strong breeze and tinder dry stubble. This spread into an adjacent crop field before it could be brought under control. In all it took around 40 Fire-fighters who worked extremely hard in hot and difficult conditions to extinguish Approximately 50,000 sqm of stubble and crop involved in the fire and 22 cars slightly damaged. All the cars involved had to be recovered, due to the fire spreading under them as they could not be driven away in case of any unseen damage which may have affected brakes or fuel lines making them unsafe to drive.

“As Thame Fire Crews were already at the show they were in attendance very quickly and as a result the majority of the cars involved were only slightly affected by the fire, with only a couple suffering more serious damage and fortunately no one was injured.

“The prompt response by the show staff also played a large part in ensuring members of the public were not injured and the damage to visitors? cars was limited.
The exact cause of the fire is unknown but it is thought an area of stubble caught fire. The current weather is making the risk of fire in our countryside very high. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue have been attending numerous grass and field fires over recent weeks.

“We would urge the public to be extra careful and vigilant in these conditions; the ground is tinder dry and discarded rubbish, bottles, cigarettes and
matches or careless use of barbeques or bonfires can quickly start a fire which can spread faster than people realise. Crop fires in the dry and windy conditions we have been experiencing lately travel
very fast. Access for fire vehicles and crews is not always easy and fire fighters have to work very hard to extinguish a large area using beaters, giving time for water jets to be laid out over long distances.”

LINKS to a film of the fire captured by Radio Oxford’s Phil Mercer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-GE1w3qcaQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knb4z7ovKmM

PHOTO: Owners of cars damaged in the fire review the damage to their vehicles with fire officers.