Rescuing a calf out of a well may not be the traditional role of a fire brigade but that is exactly what Devonport members did recently.
Archie the calf, who weighs 150 kilograms, pushed through a wire fence on his Wesley Vale property and fell four metres into water and sludge.
With only a 1.5-metre wide hole to extract him, the Devonport crew, who were called to the address about 4.45pm on June 8, devised a plan and went to work.
"The first task on hand was to drain the well to make it more comfortable for Archie before placing some straps under him and lifting him out using an excavator," the fire brigade's station officer Justin Smith said.
"As night began to fall, Archie was feeling increasingly unimpressed with his situation and, more worryingly, was starting to tire from his ordeal.
"Thankfully, monitoring of the well confirmed a normal atmosphere all the way down to the water level, much to the relief of the rescue team.
"A call went out to Wesley Vale and Devonport volunteers to assist with portable pumps and lighting and before too long the water level started to lower enough to make it easier for Archie to breathe."
Mr Smith said the strainer on the hose kept clogging with sludge and debris which slowed the process.
"After 45 minutes of pumping it was evident we needed to go old school with buckets on ropes in order to get Archie out," he said.
"While the buckets were deployed with a fuse puller pressing on them to lower them into the sludge and fill them up, Archie decided he was no longer happy with how things were progressing so sat down and showed complete disregard for the rescue efforts."
With most of the water and sludge now drained, Archie's owners scaled down a ladder and gave him some reassuring pats before placing some straps under his belly in readiness to be released from his predicament.
"At this point, Archie sensed he was finally on his way out of there and decided to co-operate with us," Mr Smith said.
"As the excavator started to lift Archie, some of the straps slipped which initially caused some concern however it wasn't too long before he was laying on the ground with his owner untying him.
"Cold and exhausted from his misadventure, Archie was given some well-deserved TLC overnight before receiving medical treatment the following day.
"Out of the well, Archie is now on the mend."