A tractor burst into flames causing the full closure of one of Huddersfield’s most crucial A roads.
Firefighters were called at 12.25pm after the farmer driving the vehicle was forced to stop on the A642 Wakefield Road, close to the Grange Moor roundabout.
Police closed the road in both directions due to the intensity of the fire and the obstruction caused by the incident.
A crew from Huddersfield fire station spent an hour tackling the incident but the road was shut to traffic for much longer, causing disruption for motorists.
Crew Commander Ian Moxon said it had been a difficult fire to put out as the vehicle had recently been filled with hundreds of litres of fuel.
He said the farmer had told them he had just come out of a field when smoke started billowing from underneath.
“Before he knew it was well alight,” crew commander Moxon said.
“If was a difficult one to extinguish because it was a running fuel fire.
“He had just filled it up with diesel and we had it running down the road for about 100 metres.”
The crew used two hoses and a larger jet hose to put out the blaze.
The large agricultural vehicle was completely gutted, although it was able to be recovered by a wagon later in the afternoon.
Police re-opened the road at about 3.30pm.
