It seemed like a fairly simple call. A dog in a plastic culvert, could the Esko Fire Department help the owner get it out?

But this was no ordinary culvert, running from one side of the road to another. It was a culvert built at Oldenburg Point after the 2012 floods ripped through Jay Cooke State Park and the surrounding area.

"I think [the pipe] ran about 300-400 feet, down a steep ravine and probably emptied out into the river," said Esko fire chief Kyle Gustafson. "We aren't sure because we never could find the end. We looked for two hours."

When his volunteer firefighters first arrived...