PETERSBURG, Va. -- A daring rescue from deep inside a century old well-played out just like it had in training for Petersburg firefighters.
It happened early Saturday morning, when the call went out for a person down a man-hole.
That's not what firefighters found when they got to St. Mark Street.
"We walked over to the hole here, with a flashlight and a man was at the bottom of a well," said Captain Wilbur Barlow.
The well, about a century old, lined with brick is about "30-35 feet deep and two and half to three feet wide," said Barlow.
"Seeing him down there at the bottom of the hole, I just knew we had to get him out of there quick," said Captain Bret Martin adding "Can't rush, everything got to be double checked, safety's number one".
To get the man out, the firefighters used "A tripod, hook a 4 to 1 lowering system, get a guy in the hole, make sure he didn't have any injuries, get a harness on him and get him out of the hole," said Captain Mark Allen.
The process took about 45 minutes and when the victim was out, "he constantly thanks us on his way to the ambulance," Capt. Martin said.
