A FIRE which destroyed more than 50 acres of gorse and grassland at Brentor last Saturday at times put the lives of firefighters in danger.

Two fire crews from Tavistock, together with crews from Princetown, Bere Alston, Okehampton and the incident command vehicle from Plymouth, battled for more than three hours to extinguish the fire near the Brentor Gliding Club between Brentor and Mary Tavy.

Tavistock fire crew was first on the scene, having been called at 10.01am. Station officer Chris Neale said they assessed the situation and realised they needed assistance.

?It was difficult terrain and the fire was being fanned by high winds. It was jumping eight feet high from gorse bush to gorse bush and at one stage came behind firefighters and they had to run to get out of the way,? Mr Neale said.

The fire threatened a nearby woodland area and was difficult to stop, taking more than three hours to bring under control.

The last crew left the scene at 2.35pm.

Mr Neale said the fire had been started by an unknown person who walked away and left it to burn out of control.

?We believe it could have been swaling or arson. I would like to stress that if anyone wants to swale they are quite entitled to do so, but it should be done by a group of people in the right conditions ? not high winds.

?If anyone needs assistance or advice they can call the fire service and we will come out free of charge,? Mr Neale said. The fire service safety number is 01752 333633.

l There were further fires with similar causes in the Brentor and Blackdown areas on Tuesday of this week.

The first at around 8.45am, near Brentor station, was in long standing grass, and this was also fanned by a strong breeze and was beginning to threaten local houses, Mr Neale said.

This fire also took three hours to bring under control by five fire crews from Tavistock, Yelverton, Bere Alston and Launceston and the incident command vehicle. Around threequarters of a square mile of grassland was destroyed.

As the crew from Bere Alston left the scene they were called to assist with a further similar fire at Brentor Church, which they brought under control with crews from Okehampton and Crownhill.

Bere Alston crew was also called to extinguish a small gorse fire near Cholwell Riding Stables at Blackdown later on Tuesday at around 5pm, and just after midnight there was a further fire 50 metres from this.

Tavistock sub-officer Tony Clark said there were very severe penalties for people carrying out indiscriminate swaling, which was not permitted at various times, including after dark, at weekends or holidays or near main roads.

The call-outs were also putting other people?s lives in danger as the large number of appliances involved meant they were not available to attend other fires.

Anyone with information on any of the fires is asked to contact the police.