Dog rescued from pipe in Buffalo Grove

A small, white dog was reunited with its family Wednesday after falling into a plastic pipe along Lake-Cook Road, firefighters said.

The dog fell into a ComEd conduit a few minutes after 6 p.m., when its owner was walking the dog on Lake-Cook near Northgate Parkway in Buffalo Grove.

The pipe was just deep enough that the dog's owner and firefighters from Buffalo Grove and Lincolnshire couldn't reach the animal.

As the dog whimpered, firefighters pumped oxygen down into the pipe before attempting the rescue. Firefighters dug into the ground alongside the pipe and chipped away at the conduit until they got deep enough to reach into the pipe and pull the dog out.

"I went head first into the hole ... and started inching him out," said Lincolnshire Firefighter Tom Burrs, who rescued the hound.

Firefighters returned the dog unscathed to its owners.

"They were very pleased that their doggy was returned to them," said Buffalo Grove Battalion Chief Joe Wieser, who assisted in the rescue.

It took 11 firefighters and one police officer about 40 minutes to rescue the dog, Wieser said.

This is the second dog rescue Buffalo Grove firefighters have attempted recently, Wieser said.

About a year and half ago, firefighters were unable to save a dog that crawled into a pipe that emptied into a sewer. The dog died of exposure.

Firefighters did not know the breed of the dog that was rescued Wednesday or where its owners lived.

Buffalo Grove firefighters contacted ComEd to repair the conduit.