More than 30 horses were rescued from a burning barn early Friday morning in the Hertfordshire village of Bricket Wood. When firefighters arrived things looked pretty bleak for the horses, trapped in one end of the barn while the fire burned in the other.
Fortunately the fire brigade got down to some pretty serious business. They sprayed a ‘water curtain’ around the barn to prevent the fire spreading to other buildings, a digger went into the barn to clear away straw lest it catch fire, and firefighters created a ‘fire break’ for the horses, allowing farm staff to lead them out of the barn to safety.
We weren’t exactly sure what exactly a fire break was, but fortunately a very helpful lady at the Hertfordshire council found a firefighter to explain to us what it is. For everyone who dreamed of being a firefighter as a kid — listen up, here’s how it works. By getting rid of all the flammable stuff in your way, you can create a path through a fire. Shore it up with water, as the fire brigade did in Bricket Wood, and you’ve got a fireproof trail through which you can spirit, say, 30 or so horses. Two of the farm workers received minor burns, but in the end it seems everything turned out pretty much all right.
So we’ve got animals in danger, brave farm workers, cool firefighting tech and a helpful council employee: it’s the feel-good story of the year! Let bidding wars for the film rights begin.
Image taken from lafrancevi's Flickr photostream.
