Firefighters help rescue 11 ducklings from storm drain

Published 4:20 pm Thursday, April 9, 2015

LYNNWOOD — A mama duck was reunited with her ducklings on Thursday morning after a makeshift rescue operation near Martha Lake.

Neighbors knew something was amiss when they spotted the duck circling a storm drain grate. They saw 11 ducklings trapped inside the drain, said Leslie Hynes, a spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1.

When firefighters arrived, the ducklings had moved into a drainage pipe, farther from the surface. The crews used a fire hose to spray water at a low setting and gently floated the ducklings into an area where they could be pulled to safety. It was like “a water slide for ducks,” Hynes said.

“The rescue was a group effort,” she said. “The neighbors played a key role.”