FIREFIGHTERS spent more than three hours tackling a fire in the open in the early hours of this morning (Saturday).

A 999 call was made reporting a fire in the open in a 50-metre by 20-metre area in the open shortly before midnight.

The blaze at Dyers Road, Curry Rivel, involved silage and crews had to battle to protect nearby properties and animal feed.

A plan was formulated to evacuate up to 30 calves if necessary from a nearby barn.

The police were summoned "due to the nature of the fire starting" and weather reports were requested by the incident commander to assist his tactics.

A farm tractor was used to remove burnt materials as crews continued past 1am to protect saveable property.

Thatch reed was removed from an area around farm buildings - around 20 tonnes of thatch reed was destroyed.

The fire crews were able to leave the scene by 3.14am and will revisit the scene later this morning.