Kaleb Cooper rushes home after fireball explosion near his farm
Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper urged his fans to ‘stay safe’ after a huge explosion near his farm.
On Monday (2 October) a lightning strike at a food waste recycling plant in Oxfordshire triggered a large gas explosion, with people seeing the dark night sky lit up by the massive fireball.
According to the BBC, the Severn Trent Green Power Plant at Cassington, Oxfordshire, said one of their biogas tanks had exploded after the lightning strike.
Advert
The food waste recycling plant turns waste into biogas which can be used as fuel, but the lightning strike had blew up one of the storage tanks.
They said that the explosion occurred at around 7:20pm and fortunately nobody had been injured in the unexpected blast, the company said they were working with emergency services to secure the site.
Although thankfully no one was injured in the incident, locals were left shaken up after spotting the fireball.
Amongst them was Clarkson's Farm's Cooper, who was working on the farm at the time, and shared his experiences on Instagram.
In the footage, Cooper could be seen inside his tractor as he claimed that he was told the lighting had hit a ‘signal tower’.
He went on: “Stay safe out there.
“I might go home, in all seriousness, if you are out near Oxford way and you see that, I hope you're all safe and well.
"Because that was unreal, I've never ever experienced anything like that.
"So yeah stay safe out there, I think it was a control tower or something like that, the signal is going down.”
He then came back online to heap praise on the firefighters for tackling the blaze.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said 40 firefighters attended the scene after they were called at 7.17pm.
A spokesperson for the fire service added: “Firefighters have been there all night and remain in attendance.
“However there are now two appliances and a hydraulic platform on the scene compared to the six crews and other support vehicles at the height of the incident yesterday evening.
“The fire is under control and did not spread.”
Oxford resident Jack Frowde told PA 'the whole room lit up with a brilliant white light' when the explosion occurred before he heard 'a huge crack which sounded like really heavy thunder'.
In a statement, Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: "It is believed that lightning struck gas containers at the site during bad weather this evening, causing a large fire.
"To ensure public safety, nearby residents are asked to stay at home, to shut windows and doors and not to attend the scene."
Topics: UK News, Clarkson's Farm, Weather
Claire Reid