Yesterday, trespassing youths set fire to one of our fields, burning 5 acres and destroying 70 metres of hedging.
The fire brigade and we rushed to Swangleys after an emergency callout to a field on fire yesterday afternoon. Only through the quick response of Herts Fire & Rescue and through a stroke of sheer luck was our neighbouring farmer’s field of wheat – ready for harvest – not also destroyed.
Our direct experience and that of other local farms is that dry weather and school holidays bring field fires, set by youths trespassing where there is no public right of way. These fires can have a devastating effect on farms financially, can threaten neighbouring properties and always tie up considerable Herts Fire & Rescue resources which are not then available for saving lives elsewhere.
In addition, this particular fire destroyed 70 metres of hedging we planted around 3 years ago as part of our drive for increasing biodiversity on the farm. Our farm does not need hedges – we have no livestock to contain – and instead we plant hedges entirely for the wildlife that they bring. That hard work and money spent on this stretch of hedge is now lost and we will need to start again if we are to replace the lost hedge.
For our neighbours this could have been a catastrophe. We have sent our thanks to Herts Fire & Rescue for their help and would like to say another thankyou to anyone who phoned in the emergency on 999. Thankyou for that – your prompt action prevented this turning into something even more damaging..
