Family left 'devastated' by huge fire which destroyed their Lincolnshire farm

The farm, at Gipsey Bridge, near Boston, became engulfed in flames on Saturday afternoon – with ten fire crews from around the county rushing to the scene to tackle the blaze.

But on what was a warm and very windy day – the fire spread very quickly to several farm buildings, totally destroying them, along with multiple agricultural vehicles, supplies and other equipment.

Thankfully no people or animals were hurt.

The family-run farm, MSR Kirk Contractors, was set up by the late Maurice Sidney Raymond Kirk in 1968, as an agricultural contracting business with arable crops and cattle which graze locally. Sadly, Maurice passed away in January this year, and his wife Eileen Kirk now oversees the farm.

The family now say they have ‘lost everything’ but vow to ‘carry on and slowly rebuild’.

A GoFundMe page has now been set up to help the family to try and get back on their feet.

A family representative told the Standard: “This is honestly the worst day for us we’ve lost so much and it has wiped away 60 years of hard work.

"We have no idea how long it’ll be to get sorted, but we want to start again as soon as we can, especially with harvest right around the corner.”

Smoke was first seen rising from the farm in Newham Lane at 12.35pm. A number of residents who spotted this called 999.

The first people on the scene, including son Brian Kirk, checked the cattle and released them into the wheat field. They then moved as much machinery as they could away from the fire - which had already taken hold in the main barn.

Many other family, friends and locals were quick to arrive and offer support.

The family said: “The wind was contributing to the fire jumping from the main barn to the two other sheds containing the straw and hay. It was also putting the wheat fields at risk.”

The fire was so severe that much of the cattle yard and straw sheds were still burning after several days.

Family member Kirsty Kirk said: “We have lost everything – but the farming community here have just been out of this world with offering us help, such as borrowing machinery.

"It’s been absolutely amazing, and it means we will be able to carry on with the harvesting.

“We also hope that the GoFundMe page will help with the cost of hiring anything else that we need to help us get back on our feet.”

The family representative commented: “We will carry on the business and hopefully slowly rebuild, as in most cases of these types of devastating fires, the insurance is well below that to cover the total loss.”

The Kirk family say they are “so grateful for the donations on the Gofundme page and the messages of kindness and thoughts”, adding “even the farm cat reappeared Saturday evening for her tea.”

They also offered thanks to the fire service “for their quick response and continued efforts to save the farm.”

Lincs Fire and Rescue have confirmed the cause of the fire is unknown.