Grass fire jumps over road to continue burning

News imageBBC A picture of a red fire truck being driven to spray water out of a hose on its front.BBC
About three hectares (7.4 acres) of land was burned by the fire on Thursday

A grass fire spread across a road and into more fields, making firefighters' jobs more difficult, who took nearly four hours to put it out.

Six Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) crews were sent to the fields off Park Lane in Swallowfield at about 11:15 BST.

Other crews from Surrey and Buckinghamshire were drafted into help, which affected about three hectares (7.4 acres) of land.

Group manager Frank Long, from RBFRS, said the blaze spread "really fast" across the area.

News imageA general view of a grass field, most of which has been burned by fire. It is large field bordered by trees.
Crews from Berkshire, Surrey and Buckinghamshire helped to put the fire out

Wokingham MP Clive Jones, who was in the area at the time of the fire, said: "We are going to have to worry about how tinderbox dry this country is at the moment because the rainfall is going to burn off very quickly. It's going to evaporate very quickly.

"It's still going to be very dry and very dangerous."