Four fire engines and a water bowser were needed to stop a barn fire from spreading to other buildings on a farm near Tavistock at the weekend.

At 8pm on Saturday, May 22, a passing motorist called the fire service to report a barn on fire in Gulworthy.

Fire control initially sent all three of Tavistock Fire Station's appliances, a water bowser from Liskeard and a support officer to the scene.

The fire was burning in a single story outbuilding used for storage.

The 8m x 8m building was full of wood and pallets.

It was well alight and most of the roof was already on fire.

Worse still, it was threatening a garage and other outbuildings.

Assessing the scene, the incident commander called for a crew from Bere Alston and a further crew from Yelverton for support.

Crews in breathing apparatus managed to prevent the fire from spreading to any of these other buildings.

By 11pm the fire fighters had cut away a section of the roof in an attempt to stop the spread of fire to the rest of the barn.

Fighting the fire, crews used breathing apparatus, a 45mm jet, hose reel jets, a fog spike, thermal imaging cameras and triple extension ladders.

Just after midnight the fire was confirmed to be out and crews left an hour later.

The barn was assessed and it was found to have been 80 per cent damaged by fire.

The cause is believed to be accidental.