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A number of cattle that had fallen into a slurry tank in Dromore, Co Tyrone, were successfully rescued early on Friday morning, Northern Ireland's Fire and Rescue Service has reported.
On-call crews from Dromore and Fintona were joined at the scene by a specialist rescue pump and a large animal rescue team based in Omagh, duty officers from across the region and a specialist rescue team from Belfast.
The crews were assigned roles including farm animal handling awareness, hazardous materials and safety responsibilities to carry out the tricky operation. The Red Cross assisted firefighters to ensure their own safety.
Toxic gases
"Working in dirty and hazardous conditions due to the dangers associated with toxic slurry gases, hazards associated with large animals in distress, and danger of contamination or infection given the environment that the crews are exposed to," rescue workers managed to save all animals while avoiding injury to anyone present, the fire service reported.
Pictures shared by the team show firefighters inserting corrugated sheets into the slats to create temporary partitions in the tank below, and using a loader and ropes to hoist the cattle to safety.
Although fire fighters were reported to have spent a considerable amount of time cleaning their equipment after the operation, they showed a good dose of humour when sharing details of the rescue on social media, using hashtags such as #WorkingOffTheXmasDinner and #UpToOurNecksInIt.
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