Crews from four fire stations raced to a blaze which destroyed a row of sheds on the outskirts of Hemel Hempstead yesterday afternoon.
Nobody was hurt in the incident in the hamlet of Bridens Camp, just off the Leighton Buzzard road, Water End, yesterday afternoon.
The fire was reported at 3.04pm and dealt with in just 45 minutes. It is thought to have been started accidentally by a man filling his lawnmower with petrol.
The series of single-storey, timber-framed outbuildings were well alight and crews from Hemel Hempstead, Redbourn, Markyate and Berkhamsted were all involved in the operation, with three hosereel jets put to action.
Blue watch commander at Hemel Hempstead Fire Station Jon Batchelor, who was at the scene, said: “It was started by a gentleman who was refilling his lawnmower and knocked over the can of petrol. We think the heat from the engine set fire to it and the series of sheds. The biggest problem we had up there was the availability of water – we had to use pumps to shuttle it up.”