Firefighters rescue calf trapped for hours inside well west of Petaluma

A calf weighing as much as 350 pounds fell down a well while grazing Monday afternoon west of Petaluma, remaining stuck in a few feet of water for several hours until a team of local firefighters came to the trapped animal’s rescue.

The young male beef cow, probably about 6 months old, likely climbed on top of the boarded-up well in the middle of a Fallon Road field about noon, said Capt. Lou Stoerzinger of the Two Rock Volunteer Fire Department.

The old boards covering the well gave way, plunging the calf about 15 or 16 feet down into about 4 feet of water, where he remained when firefighters responded shortly before 4 p.m., Stoerzinger said.

The calf remained calm while 10 to 12 firefighters from Two Rock, the U.S. Coast Guard, Cal Fire and Wilmar Fire devised their strategy.

“He was tired and cold, but he wasn’t thrashing around and he wasn’t in a huge amount of distress,” Stoerzinger said.

Firefighters used rescue webbing to fashion a harness around the calf, and up top they stationed a bucket loader as a high point around which they attached ropes to form a makeshift haul system, according to Stoerzinger. The whole rescue effort took about an hour to complete.

The calf survived the incident unscathed, and once rescued quickly moved under the watchful eye of his mother, who was waiting nearby.

“He was a little cold. Probably worn out. Just needed a good meal and a night to rest and he’ll be fine,” Stoerzinger said. “He took off with his mom and was moving through the field pretty well.”

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com.