UPDATE: MORENO VALLEY: Rescue efforts fail to save dog swallowed by 30′ deep sinkhole

UPDATE: 12/24/2016 4 p.m.

Rescue efforts to save a 60 pound, 15-year-old, black Labrador were unsuccessful, in spite of the coordinated efforts of dozens of firefighters, sheriff’s deputies, city officials, and public works employees.

“When firefighters arrived on scene they had a visual of the dog and could hear the dog barking and moaning,” Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire spokeswoman April Newman explained. “While attempting to secure the area another sink hole; approximately 20 feet deep; was found.”

Officials determined the cause of the sinkholes was a failed underground septic system at the property.

As rescuers began digging down towards the dog, it moved further away from the firefighters until on-scene personnel lost visual of the dog and could no longer see or hear it.

“Personnel have not had a visual or have heard the dog in over an hour,” Newman said. “It has been determined that the risk is too great for firefighter personnel to try to locate and rescue the dog, due to unstable grounds.”

With the rescue effort ceased, Moreno Valley Building and Safety, Moreno Valley Public Works, firefighters, and the utility companies are working to fill in the sinkholes and render the property safe.

 

ORIGINAL STORY

MORENO VALLEY – Rescue efforts are underway to save a dog that was swallowed by a sink hole that opened up in the 11000 block of Kitching Street in Moreno Valley Saturday, Dec. 24.

Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters responded to the location about 11:40 a.m., after a person called 911 to report the sinkhole that opened up next to a structure. The caller also reported that a dog had fallen into the sinkhole, according to Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire spokeswoman April Newman.

When they arrived, firefighters discovered a large, two-foot by thirty-foot sink hole with a dog trapped inside the hole.

On-scene fire officials have summoned Moreno Valley Public Works and City of Moreno Valley employees, and requested a back hoe to respond to the location.

Animal Control is responding to the location to assist with the dog, and deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Moreno Valley Police station are on scene for crowd and traffic control.

At 1 p.m., Newman updated that fire officials are calling the incident a technical rescue and are still continuing in their rescue effort.

Eastern Municipal Water District has been requested to bring a vacuum truck to the scene to assist with the rescue. “They are expected to arrive on scene within the hour,” according to Newman.

“Fire personnel will remain committed two to three hours,” Newman said.

It was not immediately known when the sinkhole opened up or how long the dog had been trapped inside the hole.

 

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as they become available.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.