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Overheated combine harvester catches fire in field

News imageEssex County Fire & Rescue Service A fully alight combine harvester covered in orange flames which are blowing towards the left. It is night time, the sky is black, and the machine is in a field of stubble. Essex County Fire & Rescue Service
The machine was fully alight by the time crews arrived

Firefighters from four stations tackled a combine harvester blaze in the early hours of the morning.

Crews from Thaxted, Wethersfield, Dunmow and Newport in Essex were called to a field near Holders Green Road in Thaxted at about 00:40 BST.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service said the machine had overheated and was fully alight, but the flames were contained by ploughing around them.

A spokesperson said farming machinery was one of the top causes of rural and farm fires, and urged farmers to keep their equipment free from hay, straw, oil and grease.

News imageEssex County Fire & Rescue Service A field with a fully alight combine harvester in field of stubble. It is covered in orange flames and smoke, which is rising up into the black night time sky. On the left is the corner of a fire engine and on the right a firefighter can just be glimpsed. Essex County Fire & Rescue Service
The farmer ploughed around the area to create a fire break to stop the fire from spreading, the fire service said

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