"Firefighters save trapped dog" - Courtesy of The High Timber Times

Firefighters save trapped dog

Oct 15, 2014 02:09 PM

Jason Frye's 17-year-old dog, TJ, was missing, and Frye was making a frantic search. As the Morrison resident walked down Pine Springs Drive near his home, he heard TJ's familiar, though muffled, bark.

Frye followed the sound of his beloved spaniel mix, and it led him to a disturbing discovery: TJ, who is blind and partially deaf, had wandered into a culvert under a neighbor’s driveway and become stuck. It was after 8 p.m. Oct. 4.

“I thought he was dead for sure,” Frye said.

Frye raced back home to alert his family and call animal control. Jeffco sheriff’s deputies and firefighters from Inter-Canyon and Indian Hills responded.

“The pipe is approximately 50 feet (long) and designed to carry water under the driveway,” said Dan Hatlestad, deputy chief with Inter-Canyon Fire. “The dog was lying in the center of the culvert pipe, and none of our tools were able to reach the animal.”

“Everyone thought (TJ’s) collar was caught on a piece of the pipe,” said Joie Frye, Jason’s wife. “He just wasn’t moving at all.”

Firefighters cut a hole in the driveway and then cut through the culvert pipe. They removed TJ’s collar, but still the dog didn’t move. The firefighters then capped and filled a fire hose.

“We then pushed the hose through the culvert and pushed TJ through to the other end,” Hatlestad said. “He emerged and was reunited with his family.”

After the nearly three-hour ordeal, the first person to hold TJ was the Fryes’ oldest son, Jacob.

“It felt unreal,” Jacob said. “It’s hard to describe because it didn’t feel like it was really happening. I never knew if I’d get to hold him again.”

“We got TJ before (Jason and I) had Jacob,” Joie said. “There’s always been a strong bond between Jacob and TJ. TJ sleeps in Jacob’s room every night.”

An examination of the dog revealed that TJ had cut his front right leg. After a trip to the vet and some antibiotics, he’s acting like nothing ever happened.

“He’s doing great,” Jason said. “He’s probably better than normal, actually. When you have a 17-year-old dog, you can kind of expect that he’ll die pretty soon. But we didn’t want it to happen because he was stuck in some pipe.”

The evening could have taken a turn for the worse if an original plan had been executed. Jason first thought to tie a rope around his 9-year-old son Josh and have him climb through the pipe. Firefighters on the scene advised against it.

“I was ready to do it,” Josh said.

The Fryes want to thank the firefighters and the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office for helping. The responding firefighters from Inter-Canyon were Hatlestad, Skip Shirlaw, Todd Moore and Mark Forgy.

The Fryes would also like to thank their neighbors, Dave and Stacey Malerba, for being accommodating and understanding while emergency crews drilled a hole in their driveway.

“The firefighters were really incredible,” Joie said. “The response was heartwarming. As much effort as they put into the rescue, it could’ve been any one of their own dogs.”

“There was never a sense that they were going to stop,” Jason said. “It was going to go on until TJ was out.”

Contact Daniel Laverty at 303-350-1042 or  Daniel@evergreenco.com. Check HighTimberTimes.com for updates and breaking news. Follow Daniel on Twitter @LavertyReports.