FIREFIGHTERS rushed to the home of one of their colleagues when flames tore through his back garden.

The blaze swept through the garden of Birchwood firefighter Christopher Riley, of The Acorns, in Lower Walton and also spread up the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal close to his home.

The incident took place on Saturday at around 4.30pm, and it took four fire crews from Warrington and Frodsham four hours to douse the flames.

The fire engulfed three bee hives in a nearby field causing angry bees to swarm and sting firemen as they battled the blaze.

Neighbour Michael Crane, of Walnut Tree Farm, was working in his office when he noticed the fire.

Mr Crane said: "I heard the crackle of the fire as I was working. When I looked up I saw flames and smoke.

"The fire seemed to spread very quickly down towards the canal bank. I called the fire brigade they told me they had already been informed.

"Some of the firemen were stung quite badly by bees after three hives caught fire."

Firemen tackled the blaze from both ends of the canal bank to prevent flames spreading further and had to put down number of rabbits that had been burned and injured on the canal bank.

But the drama proved to be far from over when the area burst into flames again the next day. It is believed that peat in the ground had been smouldering and the warm weather had caused the fire to reignite.

A spokesman for Cheshire Fire Brigade said: "It is impossible to say where the fire began or what caused it because grass fires spread very quickly.

"Four fire engines attended the scene and a fire boat was used as a precaution in case anyone fell into the canal whilst tackling the blaze."

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