Firefighters rescue girl’s tiny dog from AC vent

Merced firefighters put on their shining armor Wednesday night when they saved a Merced girl’s puppy that took a two-story tumble down an air conditioning duct.

Firefighters received a call about 6:15 p.m. for an animal rescue in the 1000 block of 21st Street. When they arrived, 6-year-old Aubree Faust told them her new puppy, Lily, a 7-week-old Chihuahua, had fallen into an air conditioning vent on the second floor and slid down the ducting to the basement, said fire Capt. Dewayne Young.

Sue Doane and her family had planned a day trip to Sacramento on Wednesday and were worried about leaving Lily alone. They put her in an upstairs bedroom with food, water and plenty of toys and created barriers out of large cardboard boxes.

“When we came home, we couldn’t find her,” Doane said. “All the doors were locked, so we thought, ‘Who could’ve stolen our puppy?’ ”

Aubree, Doane’s granddaughter, heard a faint cry coming from the vent. They worked for hours trying to get to Lily, but she’d fallen too far into the ducting. Lily could’ve been in the ducting for up to five hours, and the family worried about her having broken bones and suffering from heat exhaustion.

“We were heartbroken,” Doane said. “We thought something terrible happened.”

The firefighters tracked the ducting from the second floor to the basement and followed Lily’s cries.

“The little guy was stuck in there and ready to come out,” Young said. “That’s the fun part of our job – you never know what you’ll encounter.”

Firefighters crawled into the space and fished the puppy from the ducting.

“They were absolutely amazing,” Doane said.

Fire engineer Grant Parker captured the rescue on his GoPro camera and posted the video to social media. He often uses the camera to record Merced firefighters in action.

“I think the young lady was very happy to have her dog back,” Young said about Aubree.

And Lily was glad to be reunited with her family. Said Doane: “She was so happy. She didn’t want to be left behind.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Firefighters rescue girl’s tiny dog from AC vent."