Man on crutches saves animals from blazing Shropshire barn

But for the quick thinking of Richard Hughes, the damage to Llawr-y-Pant Hall farm, outside Selattyn, near Oswestry, could have been much worse.

An electrical fault on a tractor is thought to have started the blaze.

Richard, 37, son of farm owners Roy and Gwen Hughes, discovered the fire, rang 999, and got out as fast as he could on his crutches to save the animals, despite having recently had surgery on his spine.

Neighbours reported hearing a loud bang, and one said they felt their house shake, as the fire took hold.

• Twitter user Alex Samson posted this picture showing the glow from the blaze

The fire broke out in the five-bay barn at about 7.45pm on Saturday at the farm outside of Selattyn.

Crews from Oswestry, Ellesmere, Baschurch and Shrewsbury battled the blaze into the night and returned on Sunday morning to further damp down and carry out an inspection.

A tractor, quad bike, ride-on mower and straw chopper were destroyed, along with hay and feed.

Roy, 72, said he and Mrs Hughes had gone out for a meal, leaving Richard alone on the farm.

He said: "The fire crew said if Richard hadn't been here the whole place could have gone up.

"He heard a bang and thought it was someone setting off a firework in the yard. He popped his head out and there were flames coming out of the barn - it was a tractor tyre that he'd heard pop."

He said Richard was recovering from surgery for fused discs in his spine, where he had had a metal rod inserted.

Richard's sister Hayley Wiggins, 35, said: "He's been quite poorly, he's had a back operation.

"Richard had gone in on his crutches because there were dogs, cattle and calves in there."

Mr and Mrs Hughes today praised the actions of firefighters who spent all night tackling the blaze.

They had been enjoying a meal at Cross Keys Inn in St Martins when they found out about the fire.

"Imagine my amazement when I got home to find six fire engines here," said Mrs Hughes, 63.

She said neighbours from Vron Farm had come down to help, and the family had nothing but praise for the firefighters.

Roy Hughes said: "They were here all night. What saved the day was the pond in the garden – they ran out of water and filled up with 30,000 litres from that.

"They say what started it was an electrical fault on the tractor."

He said he could not put a figure on what had been lost, but it was a lot.

"It would be £50,000 for the tractor alone, and £7,000 more for the quad bike that was in there. We lost this year's harvest of hay which was about 50 tonnes."

But not everything was destroyed, he said: "There was a 54-year-old vintage Dexter in the corner that was unharmed – the fire brigade dragged it out."

He said a cow with a calf who refused to come out also managed to survive the whole blaze while inside the barn. Neighbours described hearing loud bangs as the fire took hold. Sam Davies, who runs nearby Gyrn Cottage Cattery, said: "I came up to feed the cats at about 7.30pm and heard some bangs. I thought it was fireworks, but I couldn't see anything when I looked out of the window.

"Then at about 8pm I heard sirens and saw fire engines going past. It still sounded like there were fireworks going off."

Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "We were looking out for the fireworks in Oswestry from the lounge window and we saw a big orange glow. There was a very loud bang which at first we though was a firework. It shook the house – we felt it through the walls.

"It was very smoky after that, which seemed odd as we were a long way from Oswestry where the fireworks were. Then fire engines came by and we realised something was wrong."

Meanwhile, fire chiefs said today contingency plans put in place to cover Shropshire during the four-day firefighters' strike had been stretched to the limit – but had proved successful.

Off-duty firefighters came in to work to make sure house fires, a potential gas leak and several bonfires – as well as the barn fire at Selattyn – could be dealt with.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 16 incidents on Saturday and early Sunday – including one call out which involved fireworks disposed of in a recycling bin catching fire which almost caused significant damage to a house.

Andy Johnson, area manager for Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service, described the efforts of the fire service over the weekend as "sterling", and reminded people to remain aware that resources will remain stretched until the strike by members of the Fire Brigades Union ends at 6pm tomorrow.