Saugus firefighters come to the rescue for ducklings trapped in drain

SAUGUS – Nine ducklings are safe and reunited with their mother after Saugus firefighters rescued them from a storm drain over the weekend.Firefighters received a call at around 1 p.m. on Saturday for baby ducks stuck in a sewer on Fairmount Avenue. Fire Capt. Thomas Nolan wrote in the Saugus Police log that firefighters arrived to find the ducklings had fallen into a storm drain.Firefighters set up ladders on either end of the pipe, and used a bucket and a neighbor’s pool strainer to “gently capture” all nine ducklings, who were then reunited with their mother.Nolan said on Tuesday that the ducklings’ mother was running around and “freaking out” when firefighters arrived.”All the neighbors were out,” said Nolan. “There were kids around too. We went to see what we can do because we’ve done it before.”Nolan said firefighters took the grates off of the drain on both sides of the street and firefighters climbed down on each side. While one coaxed the ducklings to the other side of the pipe, another firefighter was waiting with a bucket to scoop them up, said Nolan.”They were running back and forth in the pipe on each side of the street,” said Nolan. “One guy went down with a net, and when they ran back the other way, the other guys had a bucket and was able to scoop them up a couple at a time and we were able to get them out.”Nolan said all nine ducklings were safely rescued and reunited with their mother in a grassy area away from the drain.Cheryl Bright, who lives on Fairmount Avenue, said responders did a great job and noted it was “very exciting” for her 2-year-old son, who got to see firefighters and ducklings in the same day.”They were great,” said Bright. “They were nice. He loved it. He wanted to show them his firefighter boots. It was very exciting. We were supposed to go in and have a little rest time before one of the Memorial Day parties, but of course with all that excitement, you can’t sleep with firefighters outside your house.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].