A woman suffered burns after jumping into a dyke and using her wet clothing to try to slow a large fire spreading towards a car near Cowbit.
Tina Tomblin, from Gedney, was passing Barrier Bank on Monday afternoon when a stack of straw caught fire. She heard a loud bang, stopped her car and called the emergency services as the flames spread quickly.
Tomblin then tried to reach the nearby vehicle because she did not know whether anybody was inside. She found that it was empty, but continued trying to prevent the fire from reaching it while firefighters were on their way. She was later taken to hospital after suffering burns.
‘I jumped in the dyke to wet my clothes’
“I’d heard a big bang so parked the car,” Tina said before heading to hospital. “I called the emergency services but it was spreading very quickly so I jumped in the dyke to wet my clothes. “It was the first thing I thought of to do, probably something I’d seen on television before. “I’d seen there was a car nearby and wanted to stop the flames from getting to the car as I wasn’t sure if someone was in it. “Thankfully there wasn’t. “Then I was using my shirt to stop the flames spreading further. “Others stopped to help too, including two lovely ladies who have helped me.”
After wetting her clothes in the dyke, Tomblin used her shirt in an attempt to stop the flames spreading further. Other people also stopped at the scene to help, including two women she thanked for assisting her.
Someone managed to move the car farther away from the fire. The field is beside the A1175 and the bank of the River Welland, an area used by walkers who often leave their vehicles nearby before walking along the waterway.
Firefighters used jets, beaters and a portable pump
Four fire crews battled the blaze well into the night. It was still smouldering on Wednesday morning when The Voice went to press, underlining the scale of the incident and the difficulty of fully extinguishing the burning straw and field.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said crews used two hose reel jets, two main jets, six beaters and one light portable pump in their efforts to put out the fire.
The fire caused significant damage to approximately 500 metres of stubble field and 600 tonnes of straw bales. Fire investigators have completed their work, but the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
The report was published on August 26, 2026. The source identifies the incident as taking place on Monday afternoon but does not give a separate calendar date for when the fire began.