Around 40 animals were rescued and brought to safety after a cattle truck caught fire in Co. Kerry last night (Tuesday, March 19).
The alarm was raised shortly before 8:00p.m when the truck carrying the animals went on fire in the Dooneen area close to Castleisland.
Gardaí and emergency services were called to the scene, which included three units of Kerry Fire Service from Tralee, Killarney and Castleisland.
Gardaí confirmed that the driver of the truck escaped injury in the incident.
Cattle truck
A section of the road from Castleisland to Abbeyfeale was closed to traffic for several hours until the fire was brought under control.
A spokesperson for Kerry County Council said that gardaí fully reopened the road around 10:00p.m.
In a statement to Agriland, An Garda Síochána confirmed: “Gardaí and emergency services were alerted to reports of a cattle truck on fire at Dooneen, Co. Kerry yesterday evening, Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
“The fire was brought under control by local fire services. No injuries were reported to the driver or livestock.
“No offences were disclosed,” they added.
Fire
Separately, a number of pigs were killed following a fire on a farm in Co. Tyrone earlier this month.
The blaze broke out in a farmyard shed on a pig farm on the Gorey Road in Dungannon at 9.30p.m on Friday, March 8.
Six crews from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) attended the scene from Dungannon, Pomeroy, Cookstown, Portadown, Omagh and Dungiven.
The crews used breathing apparatus, water and foam jets to put out the fire at the pig farm.
After putting out the fire, the NIFRS left the scene three hours after the blaze had started, at 12:31a.m on Saturday, March 9.
“Sadly a number of pigs died and the cause of the fire is still being investigated,” the NIFRS confirmed.