[UPDATE 8:30 p.m.: Photos] Horse Rescued from 1500 Gallon Tank East of Loleta

A horse fell through soft earth into an abandoned 1500 gallon tank. An excavator was used to dig out the tank and the side was cut away so the horse could be led to freedom. [Photos by Neil Wildgrube]

About 12:15 p.m., a dispatcher sent local volunteer firefighters and the Eel River Technical Rescue team to help.

Within a relatively short time, the first responders were on scene.

Closeup of the horse in the tank. 

Thankfully, the incident commander overseeing the operation told dispatch at about 2:05 p.m. that the horse was successfully rescued. At this point we don’t know the method used by the rescue team to get the horse safely from the tank or any other details.

Thanks to the quick action and training of our first responders, a horse lives to trot another day.

The horse being led away from where it was trapped in the tank.

UPDATE 8:30 p.m.: We reached out to several people on site at the incident and haven’t heard back yet, but we’re gathering from commenters that the tank must have been buried for years. With the ground being so soft, the horse fell through. Travis Wildgrube brought an excavator and used that to dig down one side of the tank. A section of the tank was removed and the horse was led out.