MORE than 80 bales of hay were involved in a barn blaze.
The incident happened just before 9am at a farm at Stubhampton near Blandford.
Dorset Fire and Rescue service said they received a call from a concerned farmer stating that hay bales in their barn were starting to combust.
A spokesman for the service said: “Two fire engines from Blandford fire station were mobilised to this incident to investigate.
“Once in attendance, crews used two hose reel jets to extinguish approximately 84 big square bales of hay, which were removed by the farmer using mechanical means under fire service supervision.
“The fire caused 75 per cent damage to the hay bales by smoke and fire and the cause of the fire is believed to have started from the spontaneous combustion of wet hay.”
He added: “Whilst in attendance at this incident the farmer also raised concerns regarding another barn that contained hay bales from the same batch.
“One of the Blandford fire appliances attended the second barn, where again under fire service supervision, the farmer removed approximately 25 big square bales of hay, with crews using one hose reel jet standing by as a precautionary measure.”
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