Out in Washington state, one woman managed to fill headfirst into an outhouse toilet as she attempted to rescue her phone and was rescued by firefighters this past week.
Reportedly, the woman was using her phone while in the outhouse while on a hike in the Olympic National Forest found in the northwest of Washington when she managed to drop her device into the toilet she was making use of. After trying to rescue her phone using a dog leash, she managed to fall into the toilet and become stuck for almost 15 minutes before caving and calling 911 for assistance.
“I imagine that she was probably very fortunate,” stated Tim Manly, the Brinnon Fire Department Chief, as reported by Kitsap Sun. “I don’t have any experience with that kind of a rescue, except for now, but I know that is not a good place to be.”
The woman stated to the firefighters that she had dropped her device into the toilet while taking a bathroom break on her Mt. Walker hike. After losing her phone, the woman took apart the toilet seat and attempted to get the device back by making use of a dog leash, but ultimately could not get it back. She then tied the leash to herself and chose to go in headfirst to try and reach for the phone. The attempts “didn’t work very well and in she went,” stated Manly.
The woman had driven up from California in order to visit the national park and was hiking alone with her dog, she ended up having no one to call for help that would be outside the outhouse. She reportedly attempted to get herself out of the toilet for over 15 minutes, but ultimately ended up failing. Since she was stuck inside the toilet with her phone, she called 911, and a rescue party from the Brinnon Fire Department rose out to help.
“The crews made a makeshift cribbing platform by passing them down to the patient,” the Brinnon Fire Department claimed in a Facebook post. “After making it tall enough for her to stand on, the crew pulled the victim to safety.”
After the crew of firefighters managed to extract the woman from the outhouse toilet, she was sprayed down and given a Tyvek suit. Officials also advised the woman to look for medical attention because of her extended exposure to human waste, but she refused, as reported by the fire department crews. “The Brinnon department reported that the woman said she was uninjured and requested no medical transport,” reported the Kitsap Sun.
“The patient was extremely fortunate not to be overcome by toxic gases or sustain injury,” the fire department stated in their comments. She issued thanks to the firefighter crew for the rescue before leaving the park and heading back to California.
Chief Manly stated to reporters that he had never seen anything like this over his entire career. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and that was a first,” he claimed.