“Firefighters diligently train for a variety of risky rescues they might encounter on the job, but this was definitely a first for firefighter Adam Hudson of the High Springs Fire Department.
On Sunday just after 2:30 p.m., Hudson’s fire crew, based in Alachua County in north-central Florida, home of Florida State University, was summoned to free a victim that had fallen into a 30-foot-deep sinkhole.
The victim proved to be as unusual as its predicament.
It was a goat — and not the Tom Brady kind of G.O.A.T. This was the furry, four-legged variety who alerted its owner to its dilemma with a series of frightened, pitiful bleats. The goat’s owner promptly called the fire department.
Luckily, the High Springs firefighters have gotten plenty of practice. In the past year, they’ve been called out to sinkhole rescues five times.
Sinkholes are a common occurrence in the Sunshine State. The Floridian peninsula is a porous plateau of limestone topped with sandy soils deposited on beaches over millions of years as global sea levels have risen and fallen.
As groundwater slowly flows through the porous limestone, it forms karst or pockets that can develop into caves, underground springs and sinkholes.
Like most fire departments in the state, the High Springs firefighters are fully equipped with the latest extended ladders rappel harnesses, winches, pulleys and ascenders to safely rescue victims from sinkholes, collapsed tunnels and cave-ins….”
View the whole story here: https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/fl-firefighter-rescues-terrified-goat-30-foot-deep-sinkhole