FIREFIGHTING crews from across West Somerset responded to a second large grass fire in two days on Thursday (July 31) as temperatures continued to remain high.

A crew from Williton Fire Station was the first to be sent when Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue (DSFR) received calls about a field on fire on the edge of the Quantock Hills.

They confirmed about an acre of grassland was on fire and spreading rapidly across the field and a second field, near Bicknoller.

A second fire engine from Nether Stowey was requested as well as the station’s off-road vehicle, followed by a further call for assistance from an all terrain vehicle and two more fire engines from Minehead and Porlock with their additional personnel.

The alert was sounded at about 1.45 pm and the fire crews made remarkable progress, putting out the blaze in about 90 minutes.

They used two hose reel jets, fire beaters, and a Scotty pack, a specially adapted backpack carrying a portable supply of water

A DSFR spokesperson said the cause of the fire was accidental.

On Wednesday evening, firefighters from Minehead, Porlock, Dulverton, Williton, Bridgwater, and Lynton tackled a 20-acre grass fire in fields at Ranscombe Farm, Wootton Courtenay, which spread on multiple fronts and took until the early hours of Thursday to extinguish.