A cow stuck in floodwaters at North Maclean narrowly escaped death when a crew of volunteer fire fighters endured the elements to set her free.
The Greenbank Rural Fire Brigade went to Annie’s aid on Willowbrook Rd when she became stuck trying to cross a dangerous torrent of floodwater on Saturday, March 4.
Annie was stuck in a bog from her belly down. A cow of her size can weigh hundreds of kilograms, making for a technical but rewarding operation.
Greenbank Rural Fire Brigade first Officer Fabian Stangherlin said it took about two hours to free her using a rope and pully system, without which the animal would not have survived.
“Annie got stuck in quicksand and we had an afternoon storm creeped in,” he said.
“We got her out in the nick of time,” he said.
“Where she was, the water rose about a metre in 30 minutes.”
Rescuing large animals is a specialty of the rural fire brigade, Mr Stangherlin said. They save between 85 and 90 animals each year.
Around 100 rural firefighters were deployed around Logan on Sunday to help with the community and odd jobs on the side, such as rescuing Annie.
“We don’t just do fires,” Mr Stangherlin said. “We’re out shutting roads when it’s raining and it’s flooding, we’re out helping people.
“We do a lot more than just fighting fires, which a lot of people don’t realise.”
