July 8, 2026
WATCH: Man tackles tractor blaze single-handed
Quick-thinking mechanic Nathan Forrest had an unusual introduction to his neighbours when a tractor caught fire in a field near his newly-opened business in Evenwood Gate.
It was the first week of trading at Forrest Motorworks in a unit at Hilton Moor Farm when he got a phone call from the NELA Training Centre alerting him to a tractor fire in a nearby field.
“I’m from a farming family myself, so I know how dangerous tractor fires can be,” Nathan said.
“I grabbed a few extinguishers that I had lying around, jumped in the car and shot down.”
By chance, Nathan was wearing the Meta glasses he uses to shoot footage of his mechanic work.
“It was only when I was flying down there I realised I had them, so I could pop them on just so people would believe me when I said there’d been a tractor fire,” he said.
Nathan’s quick response ensured that the fire did not spread, even after the flames reached the fuel tank and began to threaten the cut grass around the tractor.
And although the tractor could not be saved, he was able to help rescue the cutter and some other equipment, helped by the farmer’s grandchildren.
“We hadn’t met before,” Nathan added. “I knew of him, but it was a bit of a strange way to introduce myself.”
