Seventy-five square metres of farmland set alight after a pig swallowed a pedometer, which then combusted in its pen after excretion.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service have tackled a fire in Bramham, near Leeds, caused by a battery-powered pedometer, used to prove the pigs are free range, which had been eaten by other pigs.
The fire crew said the blaze had been caused by ‘nature taking its course’ and copper from the pedometer battery reacting with dry hay and the pigpen’s contents.
Taking to Twitter, the service added: “Should be an oink not a tweet. A hosereel was used to extinguish the fire and save the bacon.”
13:37 Should be an oink not a tweet. Tadcaster and Knaresbororough firecrews attended a fire to 4 pigpens near Bramham. No pigs harmed. Cause of fire attributed to a battery powered pedometer carried by one of the pigs (to prove it was free-range), which was eaten by the other1/2
— North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (@NorthYorksFire)13:37 Should be an oink not a tweet. Tadcaster and Knaresbororough firecrews attended a fire to 4 pigpens near Bramham. No pigs harmed. Cause of fire attributed to a battery powered pedometer carried by one of the pigs (to prove it was free-range), which was eaten by the other1/2
— North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (@NorthYorksFire) March 7, 2020
— Russell Jenkinson (@russjenks999) — Russell Jenkinson (@russjenks999) March 7, 2020
No animals were harmed as a result of the fire.