Great Barrington — On Friday, April 29, just after 9:30 a.m. the Great Barrington Fire Department was dispatched for a dog which had fallen off the cliff at the top of Monument Mountain.
Great Barrington’s technical rescue team responded and hiked to the summit with extensive equipment. Upon reaching the top rescuers found the dog, Luna, had only fallen about 10 feet before catching herself on a tiny rock outcropping, just big enough for the dog to stand on. She was patiently waiting to be rescued and not in imminent danger of falling the remaining 100 feet to the rocky bottom.
Firefighters rigged a rope system to lower a rescuer over the edge to Luna. She was secured by the rescuer and they were both safely hauled back up. She was uninjured.
Luna resides just over the state line in Hillsdale, N.Y., and her owner works in Great Barrington.
“It is always rewarding to have a happy outcome for an incident like this,” said Fire Chief Charles Burger. “We have trained hard for such rescues over the past decade as similar incidents have been increasing. Our firefighters did a fantastic job,” he said.
It took about two hours to complete the incident and have all rescuers off the mountain and in service. Great Barrington was assisted by rope technicians from the Egremont Fire Department.
The Great Barrington Fire Department would like to remind people the top ridge of Monument Mountain is not a safe hike for dogs or young children. If you bring your dog on the hike make sure you abide by the rules of the mountain and keep your dog on a leash at all times.
