Trainee pilot stops farm fire spreading using What3Words
Date of alert:
Friday, 3 November 2023
Crime Ref:
Force:
Bedfordshire Constabulary
A trainee pilot from Bedfordshire has been praised for stopping the spread of a field fire, after spotting smoke from a burning combine harvester while up in the air last harvest.
Flying a small Piper Cherokee aircraft, Jack Giles, alongside instructor Matt McAsh, saw a large cloud of smoke coming from a nearby field, and circled the area to investigate.
The pair sighted a combine harvester that had caught fire and, due to windy conditions, noted the fire was spreading towards the next field at speed.
Mr Giles called air traffic control to alert the emergency services, but soon found that, despite the aircraft’s radar system, they were struggling to accurately describe the location of the fire.
Flying at around 1,000ft, Mr Giles accessed the What3Words app, which he used to identify the location and pass to the air traffic controller, allowing the Shefford Community Fire service to arrive at the field within 10 minutes.
