Burbank firefighters received a call at 7:09 pm, Monday evening, that a dog had fallen off a trail one to two miles above Wildwood Canyon. The dog’s handler attempted to rescue him and was stuck, unable to get back up the hill.
The Burbank Police Helicopter Air 1 on patrol located and assisted in directing responding firefighters to the exact location of the person and his pooch.
Firefighters used a new piece of equipment called Gator 16, a four-wheel drive John Deere specially-outfitted rescue response unit. The new Gator has been used on nearly a dozen rescues to date.
This type of emergency requires several pieces of specialized USAR equipment including ropes, carabiners, stokes basket and more.
The new Gator 16, equipped with a stokes basket, shovels and four-wheel drive handles transporting three firefighters and a paramedic, along with required MICN Mobile Intensive Care Nurse equipment.
The firefighters drove up the narrow trails on which no other vehicle could traverse and found Burbank resident, Daniel Enrique, and his pet Boxer Fiona 20 feet down the side of the trail.
Enrique reported that Fiona saw a rabbit and ran for it and ended up over the side of the trail. When he attempted to rescue the pure breed Boxer, he slid and couldn’t get back to the trail himself without help.
The pet Boxer and his handler were assisted back to the trail and didn’t require any medical assistance and walked out of the canyon on their own.
The responding Burbank firefighters train on a regular schedule in the foothills and respond on an average of one to two times a month for similar mountain rescues.
April 11 is known as National Pet Day, and yesterday Fiona was lucky enough to find herself rescued the second time as she was originally recused by Daniel Enrique from the local Burbank Animal shelter.
