Rain has hampered firefighters’ attempts to control a straw stack fire at Great Bardfield.
Fire crews from Wethersfield, Thaxted and Halstead were called to Braintree Road at 8.52pm on Wednesday (June 22) after 400 tonnes of straw caught alight.
The fire was extinguished by 4.30am on Thursday. Fire crews returned twice on Thursday and will go back at 6.30pm.
Sub officer Darren Hockley, from Wethersfield Fire Station, said: “All you may not believe it, the heavy rain hampered our operations at this incident because it created a damp cap on the bales of hay, hindering the burning of the straw.
“With these kind of incidents, the best way to tackle a fire is to allow the straw to burn away.
“Firefighters worked extremely hard in extremely difficult conditions throughout the night and early hours of the morning.”
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