Ewe lucky thing!
Charred but alive, sheep rescued from inferno raging on 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 animal was rescued by farmer Claire Crowther, 26, and her brother James, who are caring for her.
They had leapt on to quad bikes and, helped by shepherds with dogs, herded hundreds of sheep to safety on Tuesday as their sun-baked pastures went up in flames.
But when the flock panicked, some found their way back on to open moorland as the fire spread – among them this fortunate survivor, which has now been dubbed Bernie, short for Bernadette.
As 100 soldiers from the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS), joined exhausted fire crews to try to get the ‘unprecedented’ blaze under control, she was spotted on smouldering ground above Carrbrook yesterday morning by hillwalker Paul Benjamin, 29.
He said she was making a rattling breathing noise like that of an ‘80-year-old smoker’.
He added: ‘Its body was badly burned and it had no wool left. Its skin was blistered and singed.’
After a picture of the ewe swept social media, Miss Crowther, her 30-year-old brother and a friend tracked down Bernie and took her to safety at their farm. A dramatic video showed the quad bike-led rescue as 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.’
Back at the farm, which has been in the family since 1952, Miss Crowther was nursing Bernie – who has been prescribed antiinflammatories and antibiotics – back to health in the comfort of a barn. ‘When we found her, she was just standing, staring into space,’ said Miss Crowther.
‘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.’ Yesterday, as the firefighting continued, three helicopters repeatedly dropped water scooped from nearby reservoirs to dampen down peat.
The soldiers from 4 SCOTS – based in Catterick, North Yorkshire – were carrying backpacks filled with water to spray on the smouldering scrub and paddles to beat down the flames for 12 hours of back-breaking work.
Major Phil Morgan, commanding officer, said: ‘It looks like we’ll be here for another 48 hours then we’ll wait for another request.’
More than 2,200 acres of moorland have been burned but fire chiefs said the number of separate blazes on Saddleworth Moor had been reduced from seven to five.
However, last night around 50 firemen were tackling a new fire 20 miles away at Winter Hill, above Bolton.