OMEN
02-11-2011, 04:42 PM
Firefighters staged a dangerous night time rescue to save a swan stuck in a frozen pond - only to find it was a plastic decoy.
Passers-by had dialled 999 when they saw the swan - left there by fishermen to scare away other birds - apparently stuck fast in the ice in Straubing, Germany.
A total of 25 firefighters were scrambled to save the bird in an operation which put them - literally - on thin ice.
"The information was very sketchy. We had to search for ages until we found the location. Eventually we saw the swan in the middle of the pond," said one firefighter.
"The ice was not very thick so it was quite a dangerous rescue.
"But when we got there we found a plastic swan and not a real swan which had been put on the lake to scare birds form coming to try and eat the fish.
"Thankfully no one was injured and at least we got a bit of training in," he added.
Orange
Passers-by had dialled 999 when they saw the swan - left there by fishermen to scare away other birds - apparently stuck fast in the ice in Straubing, Germany.
A total of 25 firefighters were scrambled to save the bird in an operation which put them - literally - on thin ice.
"The information was very sketchy. We had to search for ages until we found the location. Eventually we saw the swan in the middle of the pond," said one firefighter.
"The ice was not very thick so it was quite a dangerous rescue.
"But when we got there we found a plastic swan and not a real swan which had been put on the lake to scare birds form coming to try and eat the fish.
"Thankfully no one was injured and at least we got a bit of training in," he added.
Orange