Why are construction equipment fires increasing?

When a tracked excavator caught fire in the Dorset village of Wool on March 2 this year, emitting plumes of black smoke and fierce orange flames, firefighters who attended the scene used breathing apparatus to extinguish the flames with hose reel jets.

But less than 24 hours later, fire crews were back in the area, dealing with another construction equipment fire. This time it was a large JCB excavator which had caught fire in the village of Bere Regis, near Wareham.