Volunteer Firefighters Rescue Young Fox Stuck In The Sewer

EDGEWOOD, Md. (WJZ) -- Firefighters get all kinds of rescue calls, but this one was a first for the Joppa-Magnolia volunteers.

Alex DeMetrick reports the victim was trapped, a baby and has four legs.

The call was only a minute or two from the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department. It was a rescue call for a young fox that had been trapped in a storm drain.

Neighbors heard it.

"It definitely barked. That's how everybody heard it. It was like, 'arf, arf, arf.' Like a bark thing. Everybody heard it," said Joe Ireson, Joppa.

It was coming from the bottom of a storm drain.

"He was extremely scared and then we put a ladder inside the manhole and climbed down and pulled it out," said Dave Collins, Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department.

It was a rescue that brought praise from the neighborhood. After trying other agencies, the volunteers were the only ones to do anything.

"It was nice. It was good to see them come out and take care of it real quick," said Ireson.

"I went to release him next to the woods, but he just kind of sat there. So we decided to pick him up and take him with us and try to contact some people," Collins said. "Everybody started posting and using the Harford fire blog and it went from there. People started contacting us."

Chadwell Animal Hospital advised food, water and rest. It turned out the fox took to all three, as firefighters babysat him all night.

"He was friendly. I had him in my lap and was petting him and everything," said Collins.

The young fox is now with Phoenix Wildlife Rescue, and his condition is said to be weak. But he has a better chance than he did in a storm drain.

It may have taken the Internet to find help, but now it's put the volunteers in the spotlight. A message inside the firehouse reads:

"Chief says if we get 1 million 'likes,' we get to keep the baby fox."

We're pretty sure the chief's joking.

This isn't the only brush the Joppa volunteers will have with animals this week. On Sunday, the department is hosting a $5-a-shot rabies clinic.