‘Miracles do happen’: California firefighters rescue dog stuck in abandoned mine shaft

Firefighters in El Dorado County rescued a dog Thursday evening after it fell 60 feet underground in an abandoned mine shaft near Placerville.

First responders from Placerville, Shingle Springs, Pollock Pines and Diamond Springs spent just over an hour conducting a permit-required confined space entry rescue, which involved lowering ropes down to the bottom of the borehole to rescue Rilee, according to the El Dorado County Fire Protection District and Rilee’s owner, Kimberlee Adams Norwood Mickelson.

The El Dorado firefighters reported that the dog experienced “amazingly” few injuries, and was reunited with Mickelson shortly after the rescue.

“All intact except a minor scrape above her right eye,” said Michelson in a Facebook post.

“Miracles do happen! She’s ALIVE!!!”