£11.8m farm fire loss in NI spurs investment demand
Further investment is needed in Northern Ireland's rural fire and rescue services after a 73% increase in farm fire costs last year, an MLA has said.
Ulster Unionist deputy leader and agriculture spokesperson Diana Armstrong was reacting to a NFU Mutual report showing farm fires cost Northern Ireland farmers an estimated £11.8 million in 2025.
The report shows that the cost of blazes on Northern Ireland farms rose four times faster than across the UK.
Last year, fires cost UK farmers an estimated £118 million in 2025, up 18% on 2024 levels.
Fires relating to agricultural vehicles added another £32 million in costs.
Tractor fires made up over half of vehicle costs in the UK, at £16.1 million, while combine harvester fires cost £4.8 million in 2025.
The east of England, which contains vast areas of arable land, suffered the biggest loss from fires last year at an estimated £23.9 million.
Farm fires
MLA Armstrong has called for more investment in rural fire and rescue services in Northern Ireland.
"Fire has always been part of the risk of farming. What is not normal is the cost here rising by nearly three quarters in a single year, four times faster than across the United Kingdom as a whole.
"Anyone who has been near a farm fire knows what it means.
"A shed goes up in the middle of the night and by morning a family has lost machinery it spent twenty years paying for, or stock it bred, or the winter’s feed. It takes minutes. Putting it back takes years, and some never do," she said.
The NFU Mutual report noted that record temperatures in 2025 increased fire risk, with continuing hot, dry weather this year causing anxiety for farmers
"Behind that £11.8 million are farming families already under real pressure, and a serious fire on top of everything else can finish a business.
"Last year’s heat is a large part of why these figures jumped, and we are told to expect more summers like it. That is not a reason to shrug. It is a reason to be ready," Armstrong said.
"Farmers will do what they can. Keep the machinery and the electrics checked, think about the yard, consider fire suppression systems where they are worth having.
"But prevention cannot fall to farmers alone, and nobody seriously argues that it should.
"The part nobody wants to talk about is how long it takes a fire crew to reach a farm up a lane, and what they find when they get there.
"Rural fire and rescue needs proper investment, decent equipment and better access to water supplies in an emergency. Anyone living in a rural townland will understand exactly why," she added.
The MLA said she will be asking what assessment had been made of rural fire service response times, along with water access for firefighters in rural areas.
