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Middlesbrough farmer, Ronnie Bullock,
whose hay barn was narrowly missed
by a lantern that was still alight
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Farmers across Yorkshire and the North East are adding their voices to national appeals to party-goers and party organisers not to release Chinese lanterns into the countryside.
Nationally the NFU is warning about the potentially lethal implications for livestock and the risk of setting fire to farm crops or buildings where straw and hay are stored following a sharp rise in incidents reported by farmers and a raft of warnings issued by fire services across the country.
The latest blaze nationally - in a barley field near Woodstock – involved more than 25 firefighters, prompting a warning from incident commander John Nixon about the risk that lanterns can present especially after what has been a particularly dry summer.
This warning is echoed by farmers throughout the North East and Yorkshire region, where lanterns have been found to come down still alight or with glowing embers. Not only are they being found in fields where dry crops are ripening, but in some instances they have narrowly missed farmyard barns where hay and straw bales are stored.
The threat to farm animals is also very real when lanterns come down in grass fields. If animals are out grazing, they are at risk of ingesting some component parts of the lantern – pieces of wire or bamboo – which in turn can puncture their throats, stomachs or intestines. Equally parts of the lantern can get chopped up finely by the machinery farmers use to make winter fodder such as hay and silage – to be eaten by cattle at a later date.
Ingesting pieces of wire can cause very serious injury and can be fatal in some cases. One North East dairy farmer, Tom Cummins who farms at Stainsacre near Whitby, has already had two cows stricken and both had to be destroyed after months of veterinary treatment.
“It’s heartbreaking to see animals go through what mine did,” he said. “The post mortem of one showed that a piece of wire had pierced her stomach and travelled up a vein to her heart, where it got lodged and formed a huge abscess.
“Of course because this is all internal, it’s impossible to know what’s happened and in this instance we tried for months with the vet to treat her before finally having to have her destroyed.
“I’m sure the knowledge of the damage that these innocent-looking devices can cause would make people think twice about releasing them. They may look very pretty for half an hour or so, but the risk they pose when they come down is serious and I can find anything up to 30 scattered over my farm at any one time.”
Farmers across the region are holding their breath as they get ready for harvest. With the fields tinder dry they are desperate to get everything safely gathered in before the Woodstock blaze is repeated.
Northumberland County Chairman, Goswick farmer James Frater says every time he sees the lanterns go up, he’s nervous about where they will come down.
“They are not just being released now and then, for example at New Year, but seem to be a regular occurrence,” he said. “I very much hope that this is a craze that will die out before someone gets really hurt. My farm is quite isolated but even we are regularly finding lantern remnants scattered over a wide area. It must be very worrying for those that farm near towns
or popular wedding venues and as we have seen the results can be tragic.”
Commenting on the latest incidents, NFU Regional Director Richard Ellison said: “We don't want to be killjoys at all, but - with the very dry summer and the reports we’re getting of injuries to cattle - we would urge party-goers and venues to resist the temptation to release lanterns into the countryside.
“People should also be aware that there is a risk finding themselves liable for damage caused. A fire in a field of barley could cost a farmer thousands of pounds for example. We would urge the public, venues and indeed manufacturers to think about the liabilities they could incur if the lanterns they sell or release end up causing damage.”
- DL - 29/09/2010
I have only been to two events where these lanterns were released. Both were the weddings of farmers' daughters...