A pig has sparked a fire after excreting a pedometer it had eaten.

Firefighters were deployed to the blaze covering some 75 square metres at four pens in Bramham near Leeds on Saturday afternoon.

It is thought to have been caused when the pedometer, used to prove the pigs were free range, was eaten by one of the animals.

Image: The pedometer was being used to prove the animal was free range. Pic: @russjenks999

Once "nature had taken its course", the copper from the device's batteries reacted with the contents of the pigpens causing the dry hay bedding to burst into flames, according to North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.

The brigade quipped: "A hosereel was used to extinguish the fire and save the bacon."


The unusual incident led to a number of humorous hog-related responses on Twitter, with one user saying: "The cause must have come as a sowprise. Your job certainly isn't boaring."

Another wrote: "@NorthYorksFire knows how to bring the bacon home, well done lads!"