A TRACTOR went up in flames at Gannawarra on Thursday evening.
CFA units from Koondrook, Cohuna and Kerang were called to a private property at around 5.50pm, where they found the Steiger 4WD ablaze in a field.
“The tyres were exploding as they burnt and the fire was impinging on bales of hay and silage plastic,” Koondrook brigade captain John Schulze said.
“It was considered that the tractor was beyond saving, so firefighters turned their attention to asset protection of the valuable silage.”
Captain Schulze said 600 litres of diesel in the tractor’s tank and around 400 litres of hydraulic oil were fuelling the blaze and made for “a fairly difficult firefight”.
“It was a fairly black smoke and there were toxic fumes,” he said.
“We had two members from Cohuna in breathing apparatus so they could get close enough to cool the oil and diesel tanks down and stop the oil leaking.”
Crews spent around two hours cooling heat-affected areas and extinguishing the flames.
Cptn Schulze said the tractor had been parked away from the road on private property and firefighters didn’t believe the fire was suspicious.
However, CFA investigators were due to investigate it.
