A boy playing in the snow in Virginia fell into a storm drain and found himself trapped in the cold Monday. Rescue workers, who were unable to lift the frozen drain cover, resorted to digging and freed him in about a half-hour.
First responders with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were called to the 1900 block of MacArthur Drive in McLean around 4:45 p.m., the department wrote in a post on X.
“They ran through a number of factors to try to determine the safest way to get him out,” said Fairfax County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt.
“You want to make sure there’s stability where he is. You want to make sure he’s not going to fall any deeper, but also, it’s cold,” Hildebrandt said.
They first attempted to lift the storm drain, but it was frozen, she said. So they dug through several inches of snow and ice instead.
“He was calm and let us do our work,” said Hildebrandt, who also noted the boy received medical care and was uninjured.
Schools in the county have been closed since Monday, and about six inches of snow fell in McLean over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
That much snow often conceals what’s underneath, said Hildebrandt, who encouraged residents to wear shoes with grip or “waddle like a penguin” when walking in the snow.
But the weekend storm, which also brought heaps of sleet and frozen rain to parts of the D.C. area, has made conditions outside slippery, even dangerous.
Ultimately, she advised people to stay indoors.
“If you don’t have to go out, don’t.”
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