Child Rescued from Dove Canyon Pool Filter

Submitted by the Orange County Fire Authority

At 5:15 p.m. Saturday, the Orange County Fire Authority was dispatched to a Rescue Call in the community of Dove Canyon where a 3 year-old boy had his leg stuck in a pool filter.

The family said the child was not injured and they simply required assistance getting him unstuck. Upon arrival, the first OCFA unit realized this was more complex and requested the assistance of a truck company and a medic unit. The child had slid down into the strainer mechanism that is located at the pool edge and in a squatting position his legs had become wedged under the pool coping. Crews made many attempts to lift the child out of the apparatus by using dishwashing soap and different positions to free his legs, however, the attempts were not successful.

At 5:30, a request for the call to be upgraded to a Technical Rescue was made and three Urban Search and Rescue Units (USAR) units from OCFA were added to the call since they have specialized equipment to remove concrete. Upon arrival, a plan was developed that included the removal of the pool coping and surrounding material to allow for the pool filter strainer unit to be removed. The USAR teams and other OCFA firefighters worked for approximately 45 minutes to free the child.

At 6:42 the child was freed and was reunited with his parents unharmed.

In all, eight OCFA units responded for a total of 25 firefighters.