Calves die in farm fire
Twenty calves have died following a farm fire in Co Antrim.
The incident occurred at a farm on Ballybogy Road, Ballybog, last Thursday (April 7th, 2022) morning.
A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue (NIFRS) told That’s Farming that firefighters received reports of a fire in an agricultural shed at the above address.
In total, it deployed ten fire appliances, including two each from Coleraine and Portrush Fire Stations and one each from Lisburn, Dungiven, Ballymoney, Maghera, Antrim, and Ballymena Fire Stations.
Calves die
The spokesperson explained:
“Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used five jets to extinguish the fire.”
“Sadly, approximately 15-20 calves were killed in the incident. The incident was dealt with by 7.37 pm. The cause of the fire is believed to have been accidental ignition,” the spokesperson concluded.
10-year-old praised for quick-thinking actions during fire
Meanwhile, in recent weeks, we reported that NIFRS praised a 10-year-old for her quick-thinking actions during an incident on her family farm.
A blaze broke out at the enterprise at Bishopscourt Road, Downpatrick on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022.
Caoimhe Digney was about to assist her in tending to some newly born lambs. She happened to look out the back kitchen window and saw smoke coming from one of the farm sheds.
She quickly raised the alarm by alerting her mum, and she ran to investigate to confirm there was a fire.
Caoimhe promptly urged her mum to call the emergency services. She her grandmother to grab a torch and Hi-Vis jacket to stand out on the road to direct attending fire crews.
She then ran to a neighbour’s house to ask him to help them move ewes and lambs to another shed.
Whilst doing so, her mother, Sian, utilised a garden hose to extinguish the “small” fire.
According to a statement from the fire service, the blaze was caused by a heat lamp being knocked over by one of the sheep onto a bale of hay.
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