Firefighters put out a small fire on the railway embankment between Teignmouth and Newton Abbot yesterday afternoon (Monday 29 August).

One crew from Newton Abbot was called out and went to the A381 Teignmouth Road above the railway line.

When they got there, there was smoke clearly coming from vegetation on the embankment below.

They tried to extinguished it with a hose from above, but were unable to put it out completely.

Using a drag fork from the tracks to pull the remains of the vegetation apart and a hose from above, they at last managed to extinguish the fire.

Trains were disrupted by the incident.

Firefighters at the scene (Newton Abbot Fire Station)

A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: "One crew from Newton Abbot Fire Station was mobilised to [the A381] Teignmouth Road to reports of a fire on the railway embankment below.

"Upon arrival crews were met by police in an area where smoke was clearly issuing.

"Crews initially used a 45mm attack jet to tackle the fire from above and cascade water onto the fire. Crew members were able to make a good attack on the fire, however we were unable to fully extinguish it from above.

"As a result, crews liased with Network Rail who sent a RIO (railway incident officer) so that we could safely access the tracks. Crews initially requested that all trains ran 'under caution' whilst we were fighting the fire from above. However, seeing as we had to access the line our IC (incident commander) requested that all trains were put on a 'stop' for the safety of the crews.

"Crews utilised a hose reel lowered from above and a drag fork to pull the remain areas of vegetation apart and extinguish the fire. Although the fire wasn't too significant in size, we would like to thank everyone for their patience whilst we had trains on 'stop' in order to protect our crews and deal with this incident."