Police are trying to find the cause of a mystery fire which injured two firemen last night. The blaze destroyed a several hundred-year-old barn at Burton Latimer. Sub officer Jack Ridout sustained neck and head injuries and fireman Keith Barrett injuries to the head and back. Both men were taken to Kettering General Hospital where they are said to be comfortable. The injuries were caused when part of the blazing thatch and corrugated iron roof collapsed.

Firemen from Kettering, Irthlingborough and Burton Latimer fought the fire. “This has been one of the most difficult fires I have come across. By the time we arrived the straw in the barn was well ablaze” said assistant divisional Fire Officer T. M. Goddard. The owner of the straw-filled barn was Mr. R. L. Harpur. When he inspected the damage this morning he said “The roof is completely destroyed, which I think will cost around £1,000. I do not know what caused the fire and there is no reason why it should have started by itself.” It is not known how the blaze started.  “Such is the extent of the damage, that we are unlikely to find any clues. It is quite a mess in there” said Mr. Goddard. Burton farmer Mr. Duncan Bennie, whose straw was destroyed in the blaze, agreed: “I cannot think how it started – there was no machinery anywhere near the barn”, he said.

A third fireman was injured last night when damage estimated at thousands of pounds was caused by a blaze which swept through a shoe components warehouse in Finedon. The fire, at the warehouse of Nutt and Co Ltd, was attended by appliances from Wellingborough, Rushden, Earls Barton and Kettering. The fireman hurt in the blaze was Michael Jackson who was taken to Kettering General Hospital with a neck injury and suffering from the inhalation of fumes. His condition is “comfortable.”