Narrow squeak for mouse caught in Cransley field fire

As firefighters struggled in intense heat, high winds and tinder-dry conditions there was at least one happy tale – the tale of a mouse.

After being called to a field fire in Northfield Road, Cransley, near Kettering, firefighters had to then deal with two more deliberately set blazes.

With vast swathes of stubble, hedgerows and trees on fire, eight crews worked at the incident helped by farmers with tractors and machinery to create a firebreak.

Deer and hares were seen escaping from the fire but one little creature caught the attention of one Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Crew Commander.

Amy Gamble said she was ‘still smiling’ despite the conditions and shared a photo of her cradling a field mouse rescued from the scene of the blaze.

She said: “Soot in my nostrils for the next 3-5 business days… still smiling though.”

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service attended almost five times as many fires over the last week as this time last year – and received three times as many calls (more than 800) to its control room during the heatwave.

The big difference this year is in the number of ‘secondary fires’ the service has dealt with – fires out in the open. There has been a steep increase, with just 20 registered this week last year compared to more than 100 over the past seven days.

Hot temperatures and dry conditions have made fires easier to spread combined with firefighters attending more than 50 incidents last week where fires had been deliberately and ‘recklessly’ started.