Phew! What a scorcher! That’s a phrase we have rarely heard in the UK since 1976. Here in Shropshire, the Shropshire Star reported yesterday seven combine harvester fires over the last week. There have been a at least a couple of more fires since, including at Soulton Hall.
Soulton Hall has a particular place in the history of the Lib Dems and our current fightback against the Tories. After the enforced resignation of Owen Paterson amid a typical Tory scandal, Soulton Hall became the base for Helen Morgan’s successful campaign to replace him.
Two days ago, farmer and Lib Dem supporter Tim Ashton was combining a wheat field. The combine harvester developed problems. Tim quickly realised that quenching the subsequent fire was “like using a thimble to bale an ocean”. The fire was at risk of spreading to the nearby historic Soulton Hall. Working with a neighbouring farmer, a firebreak was created and Shropshire Fire & Rescue arrived to dowse down the wreckage. A small area of crop was lost along with the combine but Soulton Hall and part of Lib Dem history was saved.
I cannot recall so many combine harvester fires in such a short period. It is sign, as Tim says during his BBC radio interview, of climate change. It is also a warning that while the ambient temperature may only be around 30°, locally there are hotter spots where fire risk is high.
"It was like using a thimble to bale an ocean. The fire spread so rapidly, I couldn't use the steps to get off the engine bay"
Tim Ashton from @SoultonHall had a lucky escape when his combine burst in to flames.https://t.co/GYTP7a91zB
— BBC Shropshire (@BBCShropshire) August 11, 2022
https://twitter.com/_Tim_Ashton/status/1557414191073476611
https://twitter.com/_Tim_Ashton/status/1557740303288717318
https://twitter.com/_Tim_Ashton/status/1557828966521737216
Soulton Hall with some of the election team
* Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in Shropshire. He blogs at andybodders.co.uk.
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7 Comments
I can speak from personal experience that machinery fires amongst flammable crops can be truly frightening. It sounds like Tim and his neighbour kept their heads and managed the incident well before the fire service arrived. Here in S. Somerset we’re hoping for a little rain early next week to dampen the vegetation and reduce the temperature, until then we’re being extra-cautious and combining has been proceeding more slowly than normal.
Phew! What a scorcher! That’s a phrase we have rarely heard in the UK since 1976.
This summer is on track to be around 2˚C less of a scorcher than 1976…
‘UK heatwave: How do temperatures compare with 1976?’ [24th. July]:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/07/24/uk-heatwave-how-do-temperatures-compare-with-1976/
I cannot recall so many combine harvester fires in such a short period.
All making hay while the sun shines (and moisture content is low).
It is sign, as Tim says during his BBC radio interview, of climate change.
That’s a sign of uninformed hysteria.
‘Hot Weather Means Climate Change–Cold Means Weather!’ [12th. August]:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/08/12/hot-weather-means-climate-change-cold-means-weather/
@Jeff 12th Aug ’22 – 12:30pm…If only those climate experts read the same links as you do there would be no need to worry..
I trust, now that even Rees-Mogg admits that delays at Dover are Brexit related you’ll leave your other hobby horse behind..Perhaps, in time, climate change denying will follow?
@Jeff You are making huge assumptions here driven by your own beliefs and not any consideration of the article. Firstly, it is irrelevant that it may or may not prove hotter than 1976. My remark was I haven’t heard the phrase “Phew! What a scorcher!” since 1976. Of course the moisture content of the wheat is low, and as in 1976 it is diminishing the value of the crop. But that doesn’t seem to be the cause of the combine fires rather than overheating.
And your bizarre moral, don’t confuse weather with climate change. I’m not making that confusion. Tim is not making that confusion. It is agreed by the large majority of scientists that the world is warming, whatever is currently happening in Greenland. And there is agreement that episodes of extreme heat such as that being felt over much of Europe has been made more probable by that warming. That is not uniformed hysteria. It is smelling the scientific coffee.
On a lighter note, because I had made a search on combine harvesters, the Mighty Google came up with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btEpF334Rtc
I saw the Wurzels in the small Shropshire town of Clun more than a decade ago. They were awful but beer in hand and a room full of farmers and we were singing our heads off.
July 19th 2022 beat the highest average daily temperature record – set in 2019- for the UK by about 2 degrees celsius.
Various UK records for absolute maximum temperatures were broken.
Good to see you resorting to some careful cherry-picking to comfort yourself, Jeff!
The reality is that worldwide warming has multiple and over-wheming evidence behind it.
There will be more scorchers, more often, in countries around the world, as a result.
@Jeff – I bet you are glad your advice wasn’t sought after 1976, otherwise the investment in water infrastructure would not have happened and water rationing and standpipes and water tankers would now be an everyday feature on our streets.
BTW one of the articles you linked to contains an easily verifiable lie, I didn’t bother reading the other given its from the same website… So I’m not sure what you are trying to convey other than you are demonstrating just how successful the climate change deniers fake information campaign has been in getting gullible people to believe nonsense to be fact.