Firefighters contain the fire at a pig farm near Leeds, north Yorkshire (Picture: Russell Jenkinson/North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service)

A peckish pig sparked a fire in its pen after swallowing a pedometer and pooping it out.

Fire crews were called to a blaze covering 75 square metres at four pigpens in Bramham, near Leeds, on Saturday afternoon. The pedometer was used to prove the animal was free range.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service announced they managed to ‘save the bacon’ as no pigs or people were hurt in the fire.

The crew said the fire was caused by ‘nature taking its course’ and copper from the pedometer battery reacting with the pigpen’s contents.


Firefighters managed to ‘save the bacon’ (Picture: Russell Jenkinson/North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service)

In a Tweet North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: ‘This should be an oink, not a tweet.



‘It’s believed that the copper from the batteries reacted with the pigpen’s contents and, in conjunction with dry bedding, ignited burning approx. 75sqm of hay.

‘A hose reel was used to extinguish the fire and save the bacon.’

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