FIREFIGHTERS struggled against strong winds as they fought a gorse fire at the Great Kneeset area near Okehampton on Tuesday afternoon. Two crews from Okehampton were initially called to deal with the blaze just before 1pm. A spokesman for Devon Fire and Rescue said: 'On arrival they found an approximate two mile fire front was being fanned by strong winds — a police helicopter was mobilised with a fire brigade officer on board to assess the situation.' The spokesman said it was necessary to call out two further firecrews from Tavistock to help deal with the gorse fire, which was eventually extinguished. Shortly after this incident, firefighters from North Tawton dealt with a road traffic collision involving two heavy goods vehicles on the Iron Bridge at North Tawton. One male casualty had been released prior to the arrival of the crews on the scene and was treated by ambulance personnel. A spokesman said: 'Crews made the vehicles safe and stemmed the flow of hydraulic oil into a British Telecommunications maintenance pit using small tools and an environmental kit.' l Okehampton firefighters were called to Whiddon Down Service Station on Tuesday morning, after a car was reported leaking petrol on the forecourt. Crews removed the vehicle to a grassed area and made it safe.
