by Lynn Cox

A flint which was sliced by a plough blade sparked a fire in a field of corn which eventually destroyed about 15 acres of the crop.
Firefighters from several stations were called out to fields in Allhallows on Friday, August 21 where a farmer had been ploughing his field.

He had just cut the top of the corn with his combine harvester and was in the process of ploughing the stubble back into the ground when a blade on the machine caught the stone.
The blade cut the flint in half and sparks from it then quickly caught the dry corn stubble alight.
Crews from Strood, Medway, Hoo, Cliffe and Thames-side were sent to fields in Stoke Road, at about 1.44pm to help contain the fire, but the wind quickly whipped up the flames, which then spread to neighbouring fields.
A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said: “The wind was our main problem as soon as we had contained the fire into a small section of the field, the wind would whip up and carry the flames further.
“At first there was just one crew on the scene trying to beat the wind, but we were fighting a losing battle and called for back up.
“The farmer also helped by ploughing sections of the field for us.
“This mean there was a sort of mud barrier to break the flames and stop them from spreading further.
“Working together with him we did get the flames under control.
“We used beaters and our water hoses to put out the fire, but it really was hard work and did take several hours.
“We returned to the station at about 4.30pm and unfortunately about 15 acres of the crop were destroyed.”