Pigs start 75 square metre fire after swallowing and excreting battery powered pedometer

Firefighters ‘save the bacon’ when copper in device’s batteries reacts with contents of pigpens

Tadcaster and Knaresbororough fire crews were called to a blaze at 4 pigpens in Bramham on Saturday (North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service)

Firefighters were called to tackle a blaze near Leeds after a group of pigs ate a battery powered pedometer which ignited when it was excreted.

A fire covering 75 square metres broke out on Saturday afternoon when copper in the pedometer’s batteries reacted with the contents in the pigpens and combusted.

Tadcaster and Knaresbororough fire crews were called to deal with the fire at four pigpens near Bramham after the pigs ate a device which had been attached to one of the animals in the pens.

The pedometers are used to prove the animals are free-range.

Luckily, no pigs were harmed in the incident, the fire service said.

“[The] cause of fire [was] attributed to a battery powered pedometer carried by one of the pigs (to prove it was free-range), which was eaten by the other pigs,” North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service tweeted.

“After nature had taken its course, it's believed that the copper from the batteries reacted with the pigpens contents and in conjunction with dry bedding, ignited burning approx 75sqm of hay.”

The fire service added: “A hosereel was used to extinguish the fire and save the bacon.”