Illinois Firefighters help rescue dog from well

Kewanee Firefighters got an unusual call early Friday morning: They had to use their rope rescue skills and put it to the test. when both stations responded to the call and worked together to rescue a 2-year-old pitbull from a cold well in Kewanee.

“I looked down the hole, and I realized we didn’t have a small puppy,” said Lt. Joe Rediger, a Kewanee firefighter. “We had an 80-pound pit-bull down there, and realized it was going to be a little more intense than we thought it might be.”

Kewanee crews hurried to a house call involving Gypsy, a 2-year-old pitbull, on Friday morning. She was stuck in a well that only very few people could fit in.

Luckily, the Kewanee Fire Department had just the right man for the job.

“The biggest thing that was going through my head was how are we going to do this safely and efficiently,” said Kewanee Firefighter Anthony Rushing. “We saw the size of the hole, and I figured I would probably be going down because I’m the smallest guy on the shift. So, I started emptying my pockets so I could go down and do that.”

“We set up all of our ropes in our rescue system,” Rediger said. “We determined we could send Rushing down there, and tying a rope to send him and the dog up. It worked really well. Gypsy was very happy to get out of that hole.”

Gypsy’s owner says a cover on the well was in place when he let Gypsy outside like he does every morning. Only minutes later he realized his dog was under the cover of the well when he heard howls coming from his back yard.

“I was just incredibly grateful and thankful that she was OK because I was scared,” said Taran Dixon, Gypsy’s owner. “She was freezing and shivering, and I couldn’t go down there because I’m not skinny enough – especially with a ladder.”

Gypsy eventually made it out because of the quick response from firefighters.

“She’s been so thankful,” Dixon said. “As soon as she got out she started going up to them wanting attention. She was really happy.”

Firefighters say it took only about five minutes to rescue the dog and warm her up after her plunge inside the well. The firefighters made sure to give her plenty of treats, and welcomed her back to the fire station any time in the future.

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