FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Firefighters rescued a one-year-old boy from a heating duct at a home in Fort Wayne Monday afternoon.
Officers were dispatched to a home in the 400-block of Constance Avenue, off of North Clinton, at around 4:45 p.m.
The mother told NewsChannel 15 that the baby and his two-year-old brother were playing upstairs when she ran downstairs for a few minutes to check on something. Soon after, the boy fell feet first through a loose heating vent cover on the upstairs floor.
Firefighters said the baby fell about eight feet before getting stuck between the first floor of the home and the basement.
“He was worst case scenario…All the way down, we were hardly even able to see him,” said Lt. Kasie Platt, who was one of the firefighters who rescued the boy.
Platt said the rescue wasn’t easy because of the tight space. Firefighters said they were most worried about the baby’s air quality since he was confined in the tube.
“With him crying as loud as he was, we knew he had a pretty good airway,” Platt said. “He could breathe pretty good.”
Twelve firefighters responded to the scene and it took six of them to get the boy out safely. He was not injured, according to crews at the scene.
“Patient’s doing well, and everything’s looking pretty good for the guy,” Platt said.
The landlord said he has never had any issues. However, he is sealing the vents shut so an incident such as this never happens again.
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