Firefighter training on confined space entry was put to use Saturday night when a member of the Modesto Fire Department had to wriggle about 50 feet into an 18-inch-diameter irrigation pipe to rescue a dog.
The call for help from a Valley Home residence came in about 7:45 p.m. and the rescue operation took about two hours, said Battalion Chief Jesse Nicasio. He said the situation was evaluated and the decision to attempt the rescue was made in part to avoid the possibility that a family member might try to retrieve the pet, which is old and hard of hearing.
The members of the teams who conducted the rescue regularly train on various types of rescues — low angle, high angle, trench, confined spaces — in the event they have to save a person, Nicasio said. “There are very specific rules and regulations they have to follow” in different situations, he said.