Shropshire firefighters are to make a third appearance on new BBC series Real Rescues for their bravery in tackling a fire in elephant grass.
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| Fire engulfs a field of elephant grass |
Crews, which have been featured on the show before, will be back on national TV this week to retell the story of how they tackled a blaze in a field of three-metre-high grass.
Viewers will hear how firefighters fought a huge battle at a Shropshire farm to contain a fire involving the high-yielding crop used as a bio fuel in power stations.
The severe heat from the wall of flames melted the apron worn by houseowner Margaret Gibbons, who feared her home would be engulfed in the blaze.
Mrs Gibbons talked of the bravery of firefighters who put out the fire.
“I walked out in disbelief. I couldn’t believe my eyes. All I could see was a wall of flames. I could feel my face scorched and my pinny crackling with the sheer scale of the heat,” she said.
“The fire was travelling along the hedge very close to my house. It would have taken the house if it was not for the firefighters."
A total of 60 firefighters eventually put out the fire at Woodseaves in April using water from a pool half a mile away. Flames were up to 40 foot high and 150 ft across as 1,000 large bales of elephant grass were on fire creating a temperature of 1,000 degrees.
The elephant grass fire will be shown on BBC One on 16 June. The service is also to be featured on the same programme on 14 June, where they will talk about how they rescued a terrier trapped down a rabbit hole near Shrewsbury using shovels and listening equipment in a three-hour drama.
The rescue of a brother and sister from a Shrewsbury house fire was featured on the programme’s first show which was broadcast earlier this month.
