What began as a morning walk for one Hutchinson resident turned into a successful rescue mission for the Hutchinson Fire Department after three ducklings became trapped in a storm drain at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.
According to the department, the incident happened Wednesday morning near the White House building on the fairgrounds. A citizen walking his dogs discovered a duckling that had fallen into one of the deep storm drains and went to Fire Station 1 to ask firefighters for assistance.
Firefighters responded and found the duckling trapped deep inside the narrow drain. Firefighter Bernal was lowered into the storm drain to attempt the rescue. Once inside, firefighters discovered the situation was larger than expected — two additional ducklings were spotted farther down the drain.
Crews worked together to safely retrieve all three ducklings and bring them back to the surface.
After the rescue, firefighters searched the fairgrounds for the ducklings' mother. When an initial search was unsuccessful, the ducklings were taken back to Fire Station 1, where they received first-class treatment, including a gentle Dawn dish soap bath to remove contaminants from the storm drain.
Around noon, firefighters located the mother duck near Lake Talbott and reunited her with the three ducklings, which had been affectionately nicknamed Mo, Curly and Larry during their stay at the station.
The fire department said witnesses described the reunion as emotional and heartwarming, complete with what firefighters jokingly called "multiple thankful quacks" from the duck family.
The department said all three ducklings were safely returned to their mother and are expected to make a full recovery.
The Hutchinson Fire Department ended its lighthearted news release with a public safety reminder directed at the local duck population: "Please avoid playing too close to storm drains." The department also joked that Firefighter Bernal has now added "duck extraction specialist" to his résumé.