Maldon firefighters tackle 20-tonne maize blaze in Great Braxted

By Charlotte Lillywhite

17th Feb 2022 | Local News

Maldon firefighters helped crews to extinguish a fire which broke out in 20 tonnes of maize on Monday (14 February).

Crews from Witham and Colchester were called at 10.38am to a farm in Great Braxted after a grain dryer, holding around 20 tonnes of maize, caught alight.

Due to difficulty in accessing water, firefighters requested two additional crews from Maldon and Great Baddow to shuttle water to the scene, alongside a water bowser from Halstead Fire Station.

The crews worked for almost seven hours to extinguish the fire by 5.20pm, after removing the maize from the dryer and extinguishing it.

A spokesperson for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: "Firefighters used an Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP) to tackle the fire from above while firefighters from our Urban Search and Rescue team (USAR) cut away at the dryer to expose the fire.

"While using the ALP to tackle the fire from above and to inspect surrounding risks, crews worked to remove the grain from the dryer to extinguish the fire in sections."

Firefighters remained on the scene to monitor hotspots after extinguishing the blaze.

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