Waco: Firefighters rescue dog that fell into hidden manhole

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - An 11-year-old dog is safe after being harnessed and lifted out of a sewer pipe by a team of Waco firemen.

WFD received the animal in distress call around 10:40 a.m. Saturday, and the rescue took about two hours.

According to Battalion Chief Patrick Kerwin, a man was out walking his dog when the dog, a Greyhound/Great Dane mix named Bandit, fell through a sewer pipe that didn’t have a lid on it.

It was about a 20 foot fall.

Kerwin said an apartment complex nearby had been draining the pond to put in new sewer pipes, and recent rains caused the grass to grow up around the hole, making it difficult to see.

Waco Fire sent their tight-space team to respond to the scene.

The team set-up a tripod and, after checking to make sure the air quality was safe, lowered firefighter Nick Guerro into the hole; Guerro put a harness around the dog and they raised up the pup.

“It worked really well,” said Kerwin. “We practice this kind of stuff all the time, it was very successful.”

The dog was not injured.

A City of Waco utility crew responded to cover the manhole, which Kerwin says it now secured.

Waco PD assisted by directing traffic.

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