QUICK and innovative thinking was needed by Newton Abbot’s fire crew recently as they tackled a hay bale blaze while having no access to water.

The evening of Tuesday, October 28, saw the crew mobilised to Ashburton Road following reports of a fire in the open.

Upon arrival, the crew discovered a bale of hay well alight in a field.

And given the blaze was ‘some distance from the road’, crew were without a supply of water, instead, armed with drag and pitch forks, they opted break the hay bale apart.

Once spread out, crew utilised shovels to dig up muddy soil to smother the fire.

‘This technique worked well and resulted in the fire being extinguished’, said a spokesperson for Newton Abbot Fire Station.

‘Certainly not a recognised method in the firefighters handbook, however the crew worked well together and thought outside of the box to bring this incident to a safe conclusion’, the spokesperson added.