Cattle rescued from slurry tank on Co Tyrone farm

NIFRS West said the incident began early on Friday, 28th December.

On call crews from Dromore and Fintona, along with Delta Watch on Omagh Stations’ specialist rescue pump, specialist ‘Large Animal Rescue’ team also from Omagh, Flexi Duty Officers from, Omagh, Cookstown, and Western Area Command, nominated in various roles including FAHA (Farm Animal Handling Awareness), Hazmat (Hazardous Materials), Safety Officer, and Incident Commander were mobilised to a report that a number of cattle had fallen into a slurry tank at a farm outside Dromore.

A Specialist Rescue team from Belfast and colleagues from the Red Cross FESS were also mobilised for Crew safety and welfare.

A facebook post on the NIFRS West site stated: “Crews 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. In an operation that took a few hours to resolve, all cattle were successfully rescued.

“Crews performed initial decontamination at scene and spent considerable time on return to station decontaminating equipment and personal issue PPE. We are happy to report a successful outcome with no injuries to any of our personnel. Well done to all our crews involved.”