Bude firefighters tackle barn fire with livestock inside

Cows still in their stalls and a roof already smouldering met the first crews through the gate on Sunday afternoon. What started as two pumps sent to a barn fire ended up pulling in three fire stations, six breathing apparatus wearers and a full decontamination set-up before the job was done.

Two pumps become four

Two pumps were paged to the blaze at 1.58pm on Sunday 23 August, called out to a barn fire with livestock inside the building. Crews from Bude were joined by appliances from Delabole and Holsworthy, bringing the response up to four pumps in total.

Breathing apparatus crews get to work

The first two breathing apparatus wearers went in with a hose reel jet, a ladder and a range of other tools. They were quickly followed by two more BA wearers from Holsworthy, who worked to stop the fire spreading any further through the barn. A second pair of BA wearers from Bude then moved through the building dampening down hotspots.

📷Credit: Bude Community Fire Station

The added complication of suspected asbestos

With asbestos suspected at the scene, the Delabole crew set up a dedicated decontamination area so breathing apparatus wearers could be cleaned down and got out of their contaminated kit before leaving. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has not given a cause for the fire.

📷Credit: Bude Community Fire Station