Prospect/Franklin VFD rescues baby ducks from storm drain
Members of the Prospect Borough/Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department rescued eight baby ducklings Friday evening from a storm drain on New Castle Road near Moraine State Park.
The ducklings apparently fell through the drain’s grate at some point shortly before 6:15 p.m. on Friday.
“It took us about 25 minutes to get them all together down there and get them put into a bucket so we could get them out of there,” said Nate Blackwood, Prospect Borough/Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department fire chief.
“He had to chase them and corral them into a corner, and we just picked them up with our hands and put them in a bucket,” said Walt Breidenstein, second lieutenant.
The fire department was alerted to the situation after Karin Brown, who was traveling along New Castle Road at the time, spotted the mother duck and one of her ducklings circling the storm drain. She circled back to the area, parked her car on the shoulder, and alerted the fire department when it became clear that there were ducklings trapped.
“I saw a mama duck and one of the babies circling the grate,” Brown said. “So I turned around, and, yeah, I knew there were babies down there.”
The storm drain on New Castle Road is eight feet deep.
According to Blackwood, none of the ducklings were injured in the fall.
“All of them are accounted for so far,” Blackwood said.
Authorities flagged down passing motorists on New Castle Road to give the fire department space to free the ducklings from their predicament. Shortly after the incident, all of the ducklings were released back into the woods surrounding the highway.
Brown had nothing but praise for how the fire department handled the situation.
“These guys did a great job getting them out of the storm drain,” Brown said. “Hopefully, the family got reunited.”
