Three little pigs were saved from a piggery in Tyldesley this morning as a fire began to tear their house down.
The lucky animals were saved along with six chickens as crews battled challenging conditions from 1.30am – with extremely flammable acetylene containers on site.
At risk of the residents becoming pork chops, firefighters from Farnworth, Atherton, Bolton Central and Hyde fire stations worked quickly to attack the fire on Wellington Drive ‘from both sides’.
“All in all it was a good result that we saved the animals – we rescued three large pigs and half a dozen chickens,” Watch Manager Danny Marshall said.
“The firefighters had to use a bit of ingenuity to corral them and get them out. They weren’t for coming at first but they got the idea and some of the chickens were carried out.”
Unfortunately, when crews arrived at the scene, the buildings were beyond saving.
Around five timber framed farm buildings, a caravan and a dumper truck were destroyed in the blaze.
The flammable cylinders around the farm forced fire fighters to put up a 200 metre cordon for the safety of residents and those working at the scene – however no one needed to be evacuated as a result of the cordon.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation and crews from Manchester Central and Broughton Fire Station were still at the scene this morning.
Watch Manager Marshall commended the team who managed to rescue the animals early into the operation.
“If we hadn’t got in there and done that early into us being there, the animals would’ve perished,” he said.
Picture courtesy of thornypup, via Flickr, with thanks.
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