VIDEO: Volunteer firefighters rescued an 8-year-old terrier after the dog spent 24 hours trapped in a 14-foot rock crevice in the town of Averill.
“I really thought I was just going to sit there until I couldn’t hear him breathe anymore. It was… they were amazing,” said Mark Youngstrom, whose pup, Mr. Finch, got stuck in a tight spot Saturday.
It happened at the Quimby Country lodge, where Youngstrom was visiting over the weekend. He says Mr. Finch was probably chasing some sort of animal when he fell down the gap around noon on Saturday.
“I just had a little opening about that that I could look in with a flashlight, but he was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear him whimpering, and barking every once in a while, and there was just no way I could see him, no way I could get him out,” Youngstrom said.
He says he tried until about midnight to get Mr. Finch out, but headed back to the lodge after 12 hours. The next morning, Quimby Country’s caretaker called volunteer firefighters for help.
“I was just gonna sit there until I couldn’t hear him breathe anymore, because I could hear him breathing, and I just sat there and all of a sudden I…I’m starting to choke up…jeez…this is stupid… all of a sudden the fire department showed up,” Youngstrom said.
Fire crews spent an hour and a half chipping away at the rocks to free Mr. Finch. Video shows the emotional moment when Youngstrom was reunited with his pup.
Quimby Country owner Gene Devlin says he stayed with Youngstrom throughout the ordeal. “It was just a remarkable event of community. I mean, Beecher Falls Fire Department deserves all the credit for coming out there and saving the day, you know, on a holiday weekend, those guys were the heroes of the day,” he said.
Youngstrom says he’s eternally grateful. “I was just gonna sit there until I couldn’t hear him breathe anymore, because I could hear him breathing. And I just sat there and all of a sudden… the fire department showed up,” he said.
The vet gave Mr. Finch some antibiotics and painkillers, but says he’ll be fine. Youngstrom says he hopes Mr. Finch learns his lesson next time he’s out chasing critters.
