FIREFIGHTERS from across the county were called out to allotments in Cudworth to tackle the latest in a series of arson attacks.
Crews from Barnsley, Royston, Tankersley, Elm Lane and South Elmsall dealt with two separate fires on the same site on Wednesday.
After struggling to get the engines down the narrow path, they had to connect to a hydrant half a mile away and then drag out the burning bales of hay.
About 25 fire fighters spent almost five hours putting out the flames and making the area safe. Several horses were in a stable when the fire broke out but they had already been rescued by an allotment holder who spotted the flames and called the emergency services.
Luke Hardwick, 18, whose dad owns the stables and rents them to horse keepers, said he believed someone had started the fire at the spot where a bale was kept at the stable gate.
He said: “The stables were full of bales of straw. If they had fallen down on the horses they would have killed them.”
