Firefighters extinguish accidental woodland fire

Fire crews have extinguished a fire on an area of woodland in Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent.

We were called at 5.50pm on Wednesday (20 August) to land off Riverside Road following reports of a fire.

One appliance attended the scene and used a hose reel jet and backpack to extinguish a fire measuring approximately 20 by 20 metres.

One woman was taken to hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire was deemed to be accidental and crews left the scene at 7.20pm.

We are reminding people to follow a few simple steps to help prevent accidental outdoor fires:

• Don’t have open fires or BBQs in the countryside – they can easily set fire to the ground and spread
• Always keep matches and lighters out of reach of children
• Discard of cigarettes properly and never throw ends out of a car window
• Take your rubbish home or put it in a nearby bin.

If you see an outdoor fire, you should never attempt to tackle it yourself, always call 999 and provide as much information about the location as possible.