MYSTERY surrounds a fire in Caterham earlier today after a crew from Godstone was called to an incident, to find a fire burning in a tree 30 feet above the ground.
Officers were bewildered to find the flames coming out of the 100 foot tall tree nearly half way up with no evidence of any fire above or below the affected area.
Unable to put the fire out because of the height, a team from the council was called to the scene in Manor Park, Caterham and cut the tree down and cut it up into pieces so the fire could be put out.
Crew Manager at Godstone station Paul Millard said he had never seen anything like it.
"The fire was 30 feet off the ground, we think it was either struck by lightening because there was deep burning inside the tree, or a bird may have picked up a cigarette end and put it in its nest.
"But we'll never know."
He added: "I've dealt with many tree fires but never anything like that and I've had 29 years experience."
