Ewe lucky thing!
Charred but alive, sheep rescued from inferno raging on Saddleworth Moor
HER fleece is charred and blackened from running in panic through a 6ft wall of flames, and smoke has clogged her lungs.
This ewe is lucky, however – having made an astonishing escape from the inferno which has engulfed Saddleworth Moor near Oldham.
The 15-month-old hill sheep was saved by farmer Claire Crowther, 26, and her brother James, who are now caring for her. The pair had leapt on to quad bikes and, helped by shepherds with dogs, herded hundreds of sheep to Benjamin, 29. He said she was safety on Tuesday as their sunbaked making a rattling breathing noise pastures went up in flames. like that of an ‘80-year-old smoker’.
But when the flock panicked, ‘Its body was badly burned and it some found their way back on to had no wool left,’ he said. ‘Its skin open moorland as the fire spread was blistered and singed. It looked – among them this fortunate survivor, like it was in shock.’ who has now been dubbed After a picture of the ewe quickly Bernie, short for Bernadette. swept social media, Miss Crowther,
As 100 soldiers joined fire crews her 30-year- old brother and a to try to get the ‘unprecedented’ friend tracked down Bernie and moorland blaze under control, she took her to safety at their farm. was spotted on smouldering A dramatic video showed the ground above Carrbrook yesterday quad-bike led rescue operation as morning by hillwalker Paul they chased through the flames and blinding smoke. ‘The smoke was so thick and the flames between 6ft and 7ft high across the field,’ Mr Crowther said. ‘We just waited for gaps in the flames to rush through to move the sheep.’
Back at the farm, which has been in the family since 1952, Miss Crowther was nursing Bernie back to health in the comfort of a barn.
‘When we found her, she was just standing, staring into space,’ she said. ‘All the top of her fleece has been singed off, but it’s worst on her legs and belly which are scalded and blistered. She’s also wheezing from the smoke in her lungs.’
Bernie, a horned Lonk ewe native to the Pennines, has been prescribed anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Miss Crowther said: ‘The vet said there was nothing they could give her for her lungs, she just needs plenty of fresh air and it should clear itself.’
Yesterday three helicopters repeatedly dropped water scooped from nearby reservoirs to dampen down peat. Soldiers from the Scots Highlanders were sent in, each carrying backpacks filled with water to spray on the smouldering scrub and with paddles to beat down the flames for 12 hours of back-breaking work.
Fire chiefs said the number of separate blazes on Saddleworth Moor had been reduced from seven to five, but added that only a lengthy spell of rain would finally put out the embers.
Last night around 50 firemen were tackling a new fire that broke out more than 20 miles away at Winter Hill above Bolton.