Video: Old Well Dangers

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) A young boy in Lincoln County is home safe tonight. He fell in a well, apparently searching for his lost dog, last evening.

Thankfully both were rescued.

A well near a home was once common. Now, they are almost an afterthought.

However, land surveyor Eric Koiva said he does frequently finds wells while surveying land.

“We’ll see wells yes, there’s old cisterns and stuff around that you can see. I tell the guys to watch out for them because the hole on top is small, but sometimes there’s a big chamber underneath,” Land Surveyor for Brent Engineering Services Eric Koiva said.

Most wells can be found at old country homes, that are anywhere from 50 to 100 years old. Some are hidden by overgrown weeds.

Most wells are filled in or covered up, but sometimes those older safeguards will begin to crumble and cave in.

“If it’s not just a straight hole, and if it’s a chamber standing over that ground, over that chamber, you can go straight through there, through the ground into the chamber if it’s not sturdy enough,” Koiva said.

Columbus Fire and Rescue specifically trains to pull people from wells and other small spaces.

“We have one of the best, if not the best Rope and rescue confined space training in the state,” Public Relations Officer Anthony Colom said.

Wells are usually more than 20 feet deep.

The process to rescue someone from a well is difficult and time consuming, to make sure everyone stays safe.

“We have harnesses that we put on, we tie the ropes into those, and then we lower somebody down, or we could even put a victim in a harness or either a skid basket,” Colom said.
Columbus fire and rescue practices small space confinement training two to three times a year.