Somerton firefighters rescue horse from abandoned tank

A horse that was trapped in an abandoned septic tank on Friday was doing well afterward, thanks to the efforts of the Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department and Yuma County Sheriff's Office.
 
"The horse was checked out by a veterinarian and was fine, but exhausted," said Robby Rodriguez, spokesman for the Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department. "We have never had a call like this before. It is one of those type of calls you see on TV shows. Now we can put it on the board as having done it now."
 
Rodriguez said when firefighters arrived at 12655 S. Somerton Ave. they found a horse standing in an abandoned septic that still had water in it and unable to get out.
 
"The water was cold and up to the horse's shoulders," Rodriguez said. "Thankfully we had some experience at the scene because one of the sheriff deputies and our captain are both ropers and horse owners."
 
The firefighters quickly went to work getting ropes and straps around the horse. Once that was done the firefighters used a nearby boom truck to lift the horse out of the tank.
 
"We were able to lift the horse up high enough where he could get his front legs on the ground and he took over from there," Rodriguez said.
 
Rodriguez said the call came in about 3:43 p.m. and that bystanders reported the horse could have been stuck for at least an hour.


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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.