Old lady rescued as tractor fire causes devastation in Shenington

A garden was destroyed, a flaming oil spill ran down the gutter and the intense heat caused the Stocking Lane property's windows to crack during the incident at around 3pm.

Fire crews from Banbury, Chipping Norton and Gaydon eventually brought the fire under control which is believed to have been caused by a mechanical defect or overheating in the tractor.

Station manager Chris Wilson, who attended the incident, said “The intensity of the fire so close to houses together with the running fuel fire posed a real risk to local properties and the first attending firefighters had to act quickly and aggressively to prevent serious fire spread.

"It would appear that the tractor was involved in cutting the grass verge when the fire occurred so is likely to have been caused by a mechanical defect and/or overheating”.

Firefighters were faced with a large tractor on fire together with a fuel spill which had ignited and was running down the road threatening to set fire to parked cars.

Hedging at the front of an adjacent house was also in flames and threatened to spread to the house as well having cracked the houses windows due to the extreme heat.

An elderly lady from the house while firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the fire using high pressure hose reels and foam.

Crews remained on scene for some time while the wreckage of the tractor was recovered, and safety checks were made on the two properties closest to the fire. South Central Ambulance Service also attended.