Police are treating a huge stack fire that broke out in a mid Suffolk village late on Monday evening as a suspected arson.
Andrew Chaplin, the farmer owner, told this newspaper he believes the fire in Dagworth Lane in Haughley, near Stowmarket, was started deliberately.
Between 8,000 and 9,000 tonnes of straw were set alight at about 9.30pm on Monday, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said.
Fire crews remained on the scene throughout Tuesday in a bid to extinguish the blaze.
A spokesperson from Suffolk police said: “We received a report of a fire in Dagworth Lane, Haughley at 10.18pm last night from Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service.
"We are working with our colleagues from the fire service to investigate the cause which has been reported as a possible arson.
“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Suffolk police, quoting reference 37/20829/24.”
About 60 firefighters attended the scene over Monday night with three engines and a water bowser.
The response was scaled back on Tuesday but firefighters remained at the scene as the blaze smouldered.
Mr Chaplin predicts fire crews will be at the scene for up to three weeks because fires commonly reignite in big hay stacks.
Mr Chaplin’s son first spotted the fire from his bedroom window at about 9.30pm on Monday, with the emergency services alerted soon after.
People from across the area reported billowing smoke and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service asked people in the local vicinity to keep their doors and windows shut.
No livestock or people were injured in the incident and no cause of the fire has been determined.
The incident comes after two barn blazes were reported in Eye last week.
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