Blaze forces farmer to evacuate animals

A farmer had to evacuate his animals from his farm in Tal-Ħandaq yesterday when a grass fire at a nearby shooting range ignited tyres that let off thick, black smoke as they burnt.

He also had to push his wheelchair-bound son away from the scene as the farm was evacuated

He also had to push his wheelchair-bound son away from the scene while his farm was evacuated as a precautionary measure, a witness said.

The farm was some 25 metres away from the flames but some of the dense fumes blew in the direction of the farm, he said.

The fire broke out at about noon in a field that forms part of the Victoria Shooters’ Club, located between Luqa and Qormi. Inside the field there were several tyres piled in stacks of about three.

Members of the Civil Protection Department were called on the scene where it took firefighters about an hour to put out the flames, department director Patrick Murgo said. No one was hurt in the fire.

The dark smoke, emitted by the burning tyres, could be seen from various parts of the island including Sliema.

In a similar case of a grass fire that grew, last month flames engulfed the back yard of the Foster Clark factory in San Ġwann. The blaze intensified as wooden and plastic pellets in the yard caught fire and cylinders containing the flammable chemical acetylene exploded. No one was hurt.