3 minute read
A Special Team Comes to the Rescue
A Special Team Comes to the Rescue
By Linda Roberts
“We operate a low-frequency, high-risk program,” said Doug Monaco, Chief of the Little Fork Volunteer Fire and Rescue’s large animal rescue operation.
Situated west of Warrenton in Culpeper County, Little Fork serves the surrounding area and further out with its large animal rescue. The facility has 138 volunteers, including 15 trained in large animal rescue.
Responding to some 20 calls a year, the rescue team members most often find themselves working in dangerous situations to free large animals entrapped in unusual circumstances.
For instance, there was the cow in a swimming pool, two horses at separate farms that used stairs to reach barn haylofts but couldn’t come back down, and the calves stuck in a cistern. And don’t forget the camel who decided it didn’t want to get up for four days.
Each situation brings its own set of potentially dangerous calls to action and each requires a team of highly-trained volunteers fully equipped to handle what comes their way.
A well-equipped truck and trailer are at the ready to respond to calls that come in through a dispatcher. Webbing, various tools made and donated by local businesses, protective devices for the animal in trouble, and a power tool so strong it can cut through heavy metal are all at the ready.
Monaco, a retired captain with the Prince William Fire Department, oversees operations at the fire and rescue company along with Captain Melissa Mainville, a critical care nurse at Culpeper Hospital.
Monaco recalled the company’s initial rescue call for a horse trapped in a swale next to a barn. There was a happy ending, as the responders were able to free the horse, without injury to anyone.
When the company later learned of a three-day program in large animal rescue at the M.A.R.E. Center (Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center), interested volunteers enrolled for training.
As for that cow trapped in a swimming pool near Warrenton, water had to be pumped from the pool before a sling was used around the cow’s belly to pull it out.
“We learned a lot that day,” Monaco said with a smile, recalling how the uninjured cow took off bucking across its field.
The rescue program works in conjunction with veterinarians who are often called in to assess the situation.
“We need the vets just as we need the paramedics with our fire and rescue work,” Monaco said, noting that that struggling animals often need to be sedated for rescue work to begin. Freeing an animal often can take five to six hours.
Monaco’s rescue team is the only one of its kind in Virginia. The unit has some $160,000 invested in livestock-saving equipment and he emphasized that the company is a 100 percent volunteer fire and rescue organization. To assist other fire and rescue companies, Little Fork also has put together a 90-minute program detailing the proper steps to rescue an animal.
In October, WETA television will feature a fire and rescue volunteer recruitment program entitled “Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat.” Little Fork and its large animal rescue work will be among the featured subjects.
Details: Donations may be made to the Little Fork Large Animal Rescue Team, 6011 Rixeyville Road, Rixeyville, Va. 22737.
