VA Crews Rescue Two Kids from Storm Water Pipe

Two adolescents in Virginia were safely rescued by firefighters when they became stuck in a small storm pipe.

Loudon County Fire and Rescue shared details of the operation in a news release. LCFR personnel were dispatched at about 2:30 pm Tuesday to a call about a child being stuck in a storm water pipe in Leesburg, and first-arriving units found two children trapped inside the 16-inch pipe upon arrival.

Although the trapped patients were out of sight of responders, it was quickly determined that both were conscious and alert even though they were unable to extricate themselves from the pipe.

"Specialized resources to support confined space rescue operations were requested, bringing additional units from Kincora, Fairfax County, as well as LCFR’s Hazardous Materials Response team from Dulles South," the release says.

After unsuccessfully attempting to verbally guide the adolescents out of the pipe, firefighters lost verbal contact with them and initiated a rapid confined space rescue by deploying one rescuer with backup personnel to make contact with the children and physically remove them.

The two patients were safely removed at 3:20 p.m. and 3:25 p.m., and each were evaluated by ALS providers at the scene before transport to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.