Bheesham Oodit, a large-scale rice farmer of Weldaad, West Coast Berbice suffered $15 million in losses when his Fiat 210 tractor burst into flames while working in the backlands on Sunday.
His sister, Nadia Oodit told Stabroek News that the operator was ploughing the rice field around 1:.5 pm when a hydraulic hose burst, resulting in an explosion.
She said he attempted to drive the tractor towards the canal but the fire became bigger and instead he tried to douse it with water he had on the tractor. But the fire started to get out of control and he jumped off to safety.
He contacted the Oodits and they hurried to the scene and tried to put the blaze out.
They also summoned the fire tender but when it got there the hose was not long enough to reach onto the field. The firefighters still assisted.