Ross Valley Fire News
Firefighters Rescue Woman from Fairfax Well
A Fairfax woman who plunged into a well while mowing the lawn was pulled to safety by Ross Valley firefighters during a dramatic rescue Wednesday.
The incident unfolded at about 11 a.m. on sleepy Wood Lane in the Deer Park neighborhood when the unidentified woman stepped on a well cover while mowing the lawn of an acquaintance.
The wooden cover's hinge apparently gave way, the cover flipped over and she plunged down feet first, hitting the water and bobbing up after never hitting the bottom.
She wedged herself about six feet down the shaft, in water authorities later estimated was about 10 feet deep.
A neighbor heard her screaming for help and summoned authorities.
Ross Valley Engine 21 was first to arrive, and firefighter Chris Mahoney dashed into the backyard to find four or five people peering down the 4-foot-diameter well.
"She's looking up, neck deep in water," Mahoney said. "She's got both legs pushing against one side of the well, her back against the other," so she wouldn't go under, he said. "She felt like she was sinking," added Battalion Chief Jim Hanson.
Mahoney grabbed a rescue rope, tied a loop knot and tossed it to her so she could wrap it around her body. He lashed the other end to a post in the backyard.
Capt. Gavin Illingworth, the Ross Valley department's rope rescue specialist, arrived with another crew and took command, placed a fire ladder into the well and climbed down to the distraught woman. She was secured and, although it was a tight squeeze, emerged from the well with Illingworth minutes later.
She suffered minor scrapes and bruises.