Trapped dog in mine shaft

Above, Darby Price with the Denver Fire Department rescues a dog at the bottom of a mine shaft located in Pumpkin Center. Below, the emaciated dog is safely rescued and has been named Price, after the firefighter who saved him. Contributed Photo

Price ate only sticks and drank only rain water to stay alive.
The dog spent almost two weeks at the bottom of an old iron mine shaft, 40 feet below ground.
“The vet said he is in good health, all things considered,” said Leslie Burleson, a firefighter with the Denver Fire Department who was on the scene.
Denver Fire Department and Pumpkin Center Fire Department rescued the dog at noon Saturday, Oct. 23 from the mine on King Wilkinson Road.
“We have no idea how he fell,” Burleson said. “A neighbor was looking for their dog and that was the only reason he was found.”
Burleson said the dog looked like a skeleton with skin on it. He was very malnourished.
Darby Price, a Denver firefighter, went down in the mine shaft to save him. He rappelled down and a harness was tied on the dog. It took almost two hours to rescue the animal.
Until recently, the Denver Fire Department nursed the dog back to health. No owner has come forward and those in the surrounding area said they had never seen the dog before.
But now Price has a home with Scott Killian, who is also with the Denver Fire Department. Killian named him Price due to the firefighter that saved his life.
Killian could not be reached for comment.
Burleson said this was one of their first rescues of this sort.
This type of mine shaft is one of the many in the Pumpkin Center area.
“Several of our members did not even know there was a mine shaft out there,” she said. “It really opened our eyes.”
The mine shafts originate back to the late 1800s.
“They are very dangerous a lot of local people don’t know about them,” said Steven Bridges, assistant fire chief with Pumpkin Center Fire Department.
Bridges was not on the scene for the rescue but is very familiar with the mine shafts.
“As the population increases and people are moving in, a lot of them don’t realize that this type of thing went on here,” Bridges said. “We have just been fortunate that there are no humans in there.”

A stray dog named “Price” lies curled up at the bottom of a mine shaft in east Lincoln County. The dog spent nearly two weeks trapped 40 feet below ground, with only sticks and rain water for sustenance. Firefighters rescued the dog on Oct. 23. Contributed Photo

by Amy Wadsworth