By Adam Dutton and Megan Jones via SWNS
This is the freak moment firefighters tackled a tree burning from the inside out.
The alarm was raised after smoke was seen billowing from an old black ash tree in the tiny hamlet of Marshbrook, near Ludlow, Shrops.
Firefighters dashed to the scene at around 5.25 pm on Tuesday (Oct. 22) and were stunned when they saw flames coming from inside the trunk.
Video taken by Church Stretton Fire Station shows firefighters hosing water inside a gap in the bark.
Previous incidents of fires burning inside trees have led to wild online theories about them being “portals to the underworld” or “gateways to hell”.
Firefighters say the 100ft-tall tree, which has stood in Marshbrook for over a century, is thought to have started as a result of stray sparks from a nearby bonfire.
A fire service spokesperson said the incident was “a very different sort” than they were used to.
They added: “We were called to attend an old tree which accidentally caught fire from sparks from a nearby bonfire.
“With it being hollow throughout, we had to extinguish it from the inside – different sort of incident this was which you don’t come across very often.”
