MORE than six fire crews from across the county were called to deal with a large fire at a barn in Lifton on Tuesday evening.

The barn at Coombe Farm was well alight and threatening other buildings when two crews from Launceston and a crew from Tavistock arrived at 8.30pm.

The crews requested the attendance of a fourth engine as well as the incident command unit and a supporting fire crew from Greenbank.

Almost half an hour after the crews arrived, a further two crews from Okehampton and Yelverton were called to attend, as well as a water foam carrier, hose layer, and a fire service hazardous materials and environmental protection officer, due to a minor level of asbestos involved in the incident.

Western Power were also present as the fire was affecting overhead power cables.

After an hour, the single storey building was still well alight as crews attempted to stop the fire spreading to an adjacent barn.

The barn was used to store around 250 tons of straw, a horse box lorry, a tractor and several other farm vehicles and items of machinery.

Police were called to the incident to provide traffic control and to assist the fire investigation officer.

The crews worked through the night, steadily reducing the fire and at 6.40am yesterday morning (Wednesday), two fire crews were left making steady progress turning over and damping down hotspots.