Sewer kids sparked rescue mission
TWO teenagers who climbed into a sewer in Hemsworth sparked a massive rescue operation.
Concerned resident Julie Orr, 54, called police after a neighbour spotted two heads peering out from a manhole cover on Belmont Crescent at around 6.45pm on Saturday.
The boys told the neighbour they were lost before disappearing back under the cover, which was too heavy for passers-by to lift off completely.
Around 40 firefighters, including a unit specialising in hazardous materials and a technical rescue team, as well as police and ambulance crews spent more than two hours searching the sewer for the boys.
But they were found 'safe and well' a short distance away just after 9pm and said they were unaware of the fuss they had caused.
Ms Orr, who lives on Belmont Crescent, said: "It was absolute chaos - I have never seen so many fire engines.
"The police said if the boys had got stuck in a gas pocket they could be knocked unconscious.
"They made us all go indoors because they didn't know what they would be bringing out - it could have been two bodies.
"The boys told my neighbour they were lost but they just went back out the way they'd got in and it wasn't far.
"There's a stream that runs down the side of the old pharmacy and goes through the gardens.
"Most have there's piped off but some are still open and you can just walk down it into the sewer.
"I can't believe they didn't know what was happening because kids from streets away were here watching and the fire engines had sirens and everything on.
"I don't think it is funny at all. It must have cost thousands of pounds."
A spokesman for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: "We would warn children and their parents and guardians that playing anywhere near sewers is extremely dangerous, not only to the people playing there but also to firefighters and other rescue workers who are risking their lives trying to find them.
"We would urge parents to reinforce this message to their children and to be aware of what their kids are doing if there is access to sewers nearby."
Incident commander Chris Kirby said: "We carried out top searches of the manholes on Belmont Crescent and either side and committed technical rescue crews with confined space equipment to search for the two reported casualties.
"We were subsequently made aware that the two individuals within the sewer system were safe and well, unaware of the rescue operation that was under way."
Firefighters from South Elmsall, Pontefract, Rothwell, Brighouse, Leeds, Rawdon and Wakefield attended the incident, along with the hazmat unit from Ossett and the technical rescue vehicle from Cleckheaton.
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Weather for Wakefield
Thursday 09 February 2012
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