Man and his best friends rescued in Revere

MASSACHUSETTS -- When Revere Firefighter Chuck DelGreco rescued a dog stranded on ice off Oak Island Thursday, the Shih Tzu named Lola bit him on both hands, leaving the 10-year department veteran more embarrassed than hurt.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
“The poor thing — I might do the same thing if someone was coming at me in a big yellow suit,” DelGreco said.

 

 

 

Dressed in water survival suits, DelGreco and Fire Lt. Corey Robson waded into the slushy water off Oak Island shortly after 10 a.m. in response to a call reporting a man in the water along with two dogs.

DelGreco said the man, identified as the dogs’ owner, had sunk up to his waist in the frigid water after pursuing the dogs into the marsh when they climbed a snowbank bordering their home.

“We got a call reporting a person trapped in the marsh at the end of Oak Island. He was stuck up to his waist pretty much in slush,” said Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Bright.

Bright said DelGreco and Robson rescued the resident using a stretcher-like basket. Bright said emergency medical personnel took the resident “as a precaution” to Massachusetts General Hospital to be examined after he complained of chest pain.

 

  

 

He said Lola and a Great Pyrenees named Thunder were about 300 yards beyond Oak Island on the ice when firefighters approached them using a rescue sled. DelGreco said Lola was “on an iceberg” slightly larger than the little dog. One of the Shih Tzu’s bites broke the firefighter’s skin, and DelGreco got the wound checked for teeth fragments and received a tetanus shot.

The dogs were taken to North Shore Animal Hospital in Lynn where animal technician Ann Arsenault said workers used hair dryers to dry and warm the dogs.

“Lola’s body temperature was one degree below normal and Thunder was fine,” Arsenault said.



Lola recovering

She said animal workers are receiving increased reports of dogs scaling snowbanks and getting out of yards. Lynn Animal Control Officer Keith Sheppard voiced the same concern earlier this month and urged pet owners to escort pets outside to prevent them from escaping yards.

Bright said the rescue took about two hours and gave firefighters a chance to use the department’s newly purchased ice sled.

“It was a terrific job by the guys,” Bright said. “I think it was the first time we used the ice sled the chief (Eugene Doherty) got through one of his grants.”

(Item Live - Feb 19, 2015)