5 boys rescued after getting stuck in Staten Island sewer system for about an hour
NEW YORK -- Five boys ended up stuck in the Staten Island sewer system Tuesday until the FDNY showed up and conducted a confined space rescue.
In a 911 call, the operator asks, "What's the address on Staten Island?"
"We don't know," the caller says.
"You don't know?" the operator says.
"We're stuck in the sewers," the caller says.
"You're stuck where?" the operator says.
"In the sewer," the caller says.
That call sparked quite the rescue operation for five boys -- all 11 and 12 years old -- near Clove Lakes Park.
"What do you mean by sewer? Is it like a grate?" the operator asks.
"It's like a tunnel where all the pipes," the caller says.
Watch Vanessa Murdock's report
One of the boys, Declan Gannon, told CBS2 how it all started.
"Me and my friends just went in 'cause we were exploring, and then we went really far in, and then we just forgot where we were," he said. "It was scary, but, um, we called 911."
Dispatch spent more than 30 minutes on the phone with the boys, trying to pinpoint their location in the cold, damp underground tube.
"They crawled in there, and they were in there crawling for at least 15 minutes and they became disoriented," an FDNY official said.
"It was dark, and all our phones were dying, so we didn't have a flashlight," Declan said.
"I hear sirens. It sounded like they went past us," the caller says in the 911 call.
"Hold on, we're going to get you," the operator says.
Evidence of the boys' point of entry sat on the ground; they left their backpacks and jackets before entering the tunnel.
"Rescue 5 went into the tunnel to operate in a confined space," said firefighter John Loennecker, with Ladder Company 79 in West Brighton.
Attached to a safety line and geared up with confined space masks at the ready, two firefighters traveled underground as the tube tightened to roughly 30 inches around as others lifted manhole covers overhead along the route.
"As we got closer to Clove Road, we could hear their voices a little bit," Loennecker said.
"They hear you. Call for help," the operator says in the 911 call.
"I saw them about 40 feet down in the tube. I crawled in," Loennecker said.
Loennecker then was able to lead all five boys up to fresh air. They had been underground for roughly an hour.
"They came and pulled us out, and I saw my mom's friend that works on the ambulance, Victoria, and then I knew I was going to be in trouble," Declan said.
"I got a call from my friend Victoria who works ... on the ambulance, and she said, 'We have Declan,'" Declan's mom, Danielle Farley said. "I was relieved and also... I was relieved but upset, obviously, that he decided to crawl into a storm drain."
"Amazing that the cell phone worked in the tunnel," an FDNY official said.
FDNY says the single cell phone was the key to their recovery.
EMS transported all five boys to Richmond University Medical Center to be checked out. All are doing just fine.
Farley adds Declan is most definitely grounded.