Farmer praises heroics of workers and firefighters following Colnbrook fire

A farmer has said ‘it’s lucky nobody died’ during a field fire in Colnbrook this afternoon.

Royal Borough councillor Colin Rayner sounded the alarm after he spotted smoke billowing into the sky from one of his fields near Moreland Avenue at about 2.20pm.

Firefighters from across Berkshire, the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and the London Fire Brigade rushed to the scene and spent more than an hour tackling the blaze.

Cllr Rayner (Con, Horton and Wraysbury) said: “I’d just been talking about the harvest and then saw the smoke billowing into the sky so called the fire brigade.

“My five men didn’t have to but they put their lives at risk by going out there to put firebreaks in to stop it spreading.

“It’s lucky nobody died.”

The farmer told the Express that without the help of his workers and firefighters, he fears the flames could have spread to the nearby Colnbrook Primary School.

He added that the blaze destroyed about £28,000 of barley and straw needed for his cattle.

Last week the Horton and Wraysbury councillor raised concerns that the dry weather could lead to a fire in one of his fields.

The cause of the blaze is yet to be identified.