(Nipawin Fire/Facebook)

By Derek Craddock

TRAPPED IN THE WELL

LISTEN: Firefighters rescue dog trapped in well near Nipawin

Apr 13, 2022 | 2:00 PM

It is a happy ending to a story from just outside Nipawin after a dog was stuck in a well for at least two days.

The Nipawin Fire Department received a call last Thursday night that a dog had fallen down a well on a property near the Village of Love.

Fire Chief Paul Cockell said at first, they were asked if this was a job that firefighters should respond to.

“Yeah absolutely! It’s infinitely easier to respond to a dog in a well than to somebody who fell down the well trying to rescue a dog out of a well, so that was a pretty easy decision to make.”

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After receiving the call, Cockell said crews then had to decide on the best rescue technique to get the dog out.

“During that time, you have pros and cons about any kind of different rescue technique that would work. Once we got there, we were going to have to deal with what kind of resources we had and it became a little bit more clear as to what was going to work, what wasn’t going to work, because it was a fairly large breed of dog. They can be a little stressed and they can do things that would not be normal for them.”

Crews eventually prepared themselves with the right equipment to protect the rescuers as well as the dog.

“It was going to be just a large tow strap, it seems to be the best of the multiple different ideas that we had come up with and once the firefighter got down and was able to get the dog settled in and slipped the tow strap underneath the dog’s legs, from there, it was actually quite quick. The dog was pulled from the strap by a bunch of firefighters, upon the surface with the rescuer down below ascending the ladder kind of helping support just in case anything bad happened.”

Thankfully, the rescue went by without a hitch and the dog was taken from the well and back onto the surface, where he was more than happy to be back.

“I would imagine two days of being down in a well there was a lot of things the dog was missing and wanting to do so obviously a great success story for us and always great that we can provide a service other than maybe what we consider to be the norm for what fire department would have to do.”

The dog is back with its owners, happy and healthy.

Cockell added these types of rescues serve as a reminder to always be careful with any well or large crevasse you may have on your property.

“Even if you’ve got it covered in any way shape or form, it’s always a risk,” he said. “In my previous department, doing practices where we were doing live burns on farmyards, you would find these wells by stepping on them, even though they were covered, just through deterioration and stuff like that.”

Cockell said he’s grateful this story had a happy ending and gave full praise to his fellow firefighters for making it happen.

“But just like any of the firefighters that you have in this province, we generally adapt and overcome, and we can find answers to problems that arise, and it was great that it was a quick and easy fix, but in reality, it was fairly easy once we’ve got everything in place and a plan that was going to be utilized that it came to fruition.”

“I’m glad that the owners are happy, the dog seems to be happy, and all my guys are happy. I’m happy it’s all good so it’s nice to have that positive spin.”

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow