There were fires in tillage fields in Carlow and Dublin on Tuesday with fire services moving quickly to extinguish the flames.

Gardaí confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that Carlow Fire Service responded to fields at Milford, Co Carlow, on Tuesday evening after a combine harvester went up in flames.

The fire service extinguished the blaze on the combine which is understood to have started following a spark during harvest.

Gardaí confirmed that neither the combine operator or anyone else was injured during the incident. They also said that there were no offences carried out that led to the fire.

Swords fire

In Dublin, in a tweet on Tuesday evening, the Dublin Fire Brigade confirmed that three fire engines from Swords, Balbriggan and Finglas were called to tillage fields that had gone on fire near Swords.

It said that firefighters were able to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading further into nearby vegetation.

It is not yet known how this fire occurred.

Precautions

When harvesting in hot, dry conditions, tillage farmers are advised to keep a fire extinguisher readily available to quickly put out any fires that may occur. This fire extinguisher should be in reach of the machine operator at a height that they can reach to avoid injuring themselves when accessing it.

For example, machine operators should not have to climb up on the combine to get access to the fire extinguisher if it is mounted externally.

If possible, farmers should also keep a slurry tank full of water and spare tractor nearby to have at hand if required.

It is also recommended that farmers keep a compressor at hand to blow any chaff and straw out of rotating parts of a machine at regular intervals, as a build-up can present a fire hazard.

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