It was a scene out of a horror flick.
Things started slowly for an Ottawa resident on a walk Tuesday in an
Orléans
bog north of Francois Dupont Park.
He began to notice the bog was getting sticky, then muddier, quickly reaching waist level.
At about 10:45 a.m., he dialled 911
.
“The caller reported being buried up to the waist in thick mud, completely stuck with nothing around them to hold onto or pull themselves free,” the Ottawa Fire Service said in a post on the social media site X.
“Our dispatchers played a critical role in this rescue.”
The fire service said dispatchers quickly retrieved the caller’s GPS coordinates and marked the location on maps on display on tablets in fire trucks, giving responding firefighters the caller’s exact location.
Firefighters were aided by two city parks and recreation employees, Rene Bilodeau and Marc Brule, who maintain the area. They guided firefighters to the quickest access point, cutting down trees where necessary to create a path.
Firefighters reached the trapped man at about 11:24 a.m. Rope rescue specialists used specialized gear to free the victim from the mud.
By 11:31 a.m.,
the hiker was back on dry land, where paramedics looked him over and judged him to be in good shape.
Firefighters issued special thanks to the city employees
for their “valuable assistance.”
“Their quick actions and support alongside our firefighters helped ensure a safe and successful outcome,” Ottawa firefighters said.
