Emergency Responders Rescue Dog Trapped in North Hudson Sewer System

Hudson Firefighters on Wednesday night rescued a dog who had climbed into a culvert and fallen 15 feet into the North Hudson storm sewer system.

The Hudson Fire Department and EMS responded at about 6:46 p.m. to a call at Ferry Landing Park in North Hudson for a dog walking inside a culvert that dropped into a manhole and couldn’t get back out, Hudson Fire Chief Jim Frye said. The dog was not injured.

When first responders arrived, they could hear the 50-pound lab mix whimpering because it couldn’t get out, Frye said.

There are several people on the fire and EMS team who are have confined space and rope training, the chief said, and it came in handy on Wednesday.

Two responders climbed into the culvert and lowered themselves down into the manhole, Frye said.

“It’s a little different rescuing a dog than a person, because the dog was obviously scared and didn’t know the rescuers from Adam,” Frye said.

So the dog’s owner was brought near the culvert to talk to the dog in the hopes of calming her down, Frye said. After a little while, the dog calmed down and rescuers were able to package the dog and raiser her out of the manhole with ropes and a tripod.

The manhole space was about 4 feet in diameter.

“That’s some tight quarters for two rescuers and a 50-pound dog,” Frye said. "The dog was rescued without injury. I have to say, I like happy endings.”

The fire chief said the dog’s owner Richard Mossong was very happy to get their pet back without injury.

“The crew did an amazing job,” Frye said. “It takes a lot of work, training and practice to do this safely.”