Manchester Rescue Fire 1 Crew Saves Puppy in Sewer Pipe

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Already being lauded as heroes, Manchester's Rescue Company 1 rescued a puppy in Wolfe Park after it got stuck in a sewer pipe on Tuesday.

According to the Manchester Fire Dept., Tom Skafidas of Manchester was out walking his 20 month old black lab puppy Sookie in Wolfe Park in Manchester when it slipped its collar and got away from him. Skafidas searched for hours but couldn't find the dog.

On Tuesday afternoon, someone heard the dog in the culvert/sewer pipe which empties in to a swampy area and runs under the Wolfe Park ball field.

Scared, Sookie was approximately 10 feet in the pipe and wouldn't come out, even for food.

After a while Manchester Fire Dept. Engine 2 was called to the scene. According to the MFD, crews capped the end of a hose line, filling it and pushing it thru the pipe from the other end. Pushing approx 150-200 ft Sookie was pushed out into the arms of the waiting owners Tom Skafidas and Sarah Blaisdell.

According to the Manchester Fire Dept., she was shivering, wet, and anxious but appeared to be happy.

"The owners of Sookie said without the MFD firefighters Sookie most likely wouldn’t have been rescued safely. Ironically the same crew on Rescue 1 tonight will be receiving a “hero award” in concord tomorrow at a ceremony honoring life saving efforts. The last one was a man they pulled from a burning building and saved his life," the release said.

Courtesy Photo / Jeffrey Hastings Photography