AUBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - Six children exploring in Auburn over the weekend had to be rescued by Auburn fire crews after they ventured into a town water diversion tunnel, officials said.
After the incident, one of the children involved spoke with 7NEWS, describing the rescue and explaining how she and her friends ended up stuck.
“It was kind of just all of a sudden,” 12-year-old Genevieve Robare said. “Like, one second, we’re just walking, and then the next we’re calling the police.”
Robare and others in the group began walking along hiking trails at a local recreation complex. They eventually found themselves wading through waist-deep chilly water, venturing into a diversion tunnel in an area near Curtis Road.
“We were really cold,” Robare said. “We were going numb. So, we kind of went in the tunnel to warm up a little bit.”
Once in the tunnel, Robare said there were snakes and other items around them.
“So, we didn’t really want to move,” she said.
Robare said she knew the group needed help, opting to call 911.
Police said they were able to ping the cell phone and use geo-location to find the children near the tunnel.
Once on scene, firefighters used a rope to get the children out of the tunnel and back to dry land.
“We were able to walk them out slowly until we were able to get to a spot where we could use a rope that they could hold onto,” Auburn Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Johnson said.
The entire rescue took about an hour and a half.
Speaking after the incident, Robare and her friends said they’re grateful to the first responders who worked to save them.
“I’m really thankful that they came out, because I don’t know how else we would do it,” Robare said.
Robare’s mom said she asked the fire chief how her daughter should be disciplined.
“I said, ‘How much trouble should she be in?’” Jennifer Robare said. “And they made it very clear that she shouldn’t be.”
Instead, Johnson said he’s just happy the children called for help at the right time.
“I mean, they were kids being kids, they were exploring, they were looking for little animals, frogs, snakes,” Johnson said. “And they just got a little bit over their head.”
The children in this incident had some scratches but are all expected to be okay.
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