A Special Rescue for East Quogue Fire Department: A Dog Caught in the Floorboards of House

The East Quogue Fire Department made an unorthodox but ultimately joyful rescue on Thursday evening, July 11, saving a dog that had eagerly chased a groundhog under her Sunset Avenue home — and got stuck in the floor joists underneath the house.

Milana and Tobias Lundquist, the owners of the female 5-year-old Boykin spaniel, Alfi, had been hard at work for several hours trying to coax their pet out from under the house. It took them some time before they realized she was under the house. Earlier in the day, they had spotted the groundhog in their front yard, and had taken Alfi out on a leash to help scare the groundhog off. When it saw her, it ran underneath the decking at their front door.

After that, they put Alfi in the backyard, which is fully and securely fenced in, Milana Lundquist said. But they didn’t realize at the time how determined their pet would be to find that groundhog. While they were inside, she had dug a hole under the fence, scurried under to the front yard again, and went under the decking. It wasn’t until the their sons, including the youngest, who was celebrating his 15th birthday that day, heard her barking from underneath the house that they realized the pickle she was in.

“The kids were having lunch and they said, ‘The dog is under the dining room,’” Milana Lundquist said. “I was like, what is happening?”

They figured getting her out would simply be a matter of tempting her from outside with her favorite treats — peanut butter, then, when that didn’t work, salami. When that didn’t work, they turned on the car and said, loudly, “We’re going to the beach!” which usually makes her come running. Still nothing.

They eventually realized she had tried to dig herself out, but in doing so, had backfilled the area where she might have been able to wiggle free.

Eventually, they realized they needed help, and walked over to the East Quogue Fire Department, requesting assistance.

The department arrived at the home with a rescue truck and tower ladder truck, which had all the tools they’d need to find a way to extract Alfi from her sticky situation.

After assessing the situation, the department members on the scene ultimately decided that the best way to free Alfi was to cut an access hole through the interior floor of the home.

Tobias Lundquist is an architect, and according to Chief Paul Sulzinski, his professional knowledge of the home was helpful in determining exactly what area Alfi was underneath. Sulzinski said the entire process took about 40 minutes.

Sulzinski gave credit to everyone on the scene for helping out, especially 3rd Assistant Chief Mark Gregory, who he said “quarterbacked the entire rescue.”

Paramedic Peter Sulzinski — Paul’s son — remained outside during the rescue, where he had eyes underneath the house to where Alfi was stuck, which was key to extracting her safely.

“He was acting as our eyeballs,” the elder Sulzinski said. “Telling us, ‘I can see the tools through the floor, she’s a bit to your right.’”

When they had to make cuts close to where Alfi was, the firefighters used a shield to protect her from the cutting blades.

“There were probably about eight or nine of us there, working inside the house, running tools back and forth, communicating, bouncing ideas off each other,” the elder Sulzinski said.

The operation was complicated by the fact that they had to cut through two sets of floors, something they had not expected when they first started the job.

Despite the fact that Alfi had been under the house since around noon, and was extracted just after 8 p.m., she did not seem to be any worse for wear, aside from being pretty dirty.

“When she got out, she was dirty and sweaty, and probably a bit dehydrated, but she said hello to everyone,” Sulzinski said. “It was a nice outcome.”

Gregory was the one who gingerly wiggled Alfi out.

“She shook off, and covered everybody in dirt, and then had a bowl of water,” Sulzinski said, with a laugh. “She didn’t seem any worse for wear.”

The department members went over to the home the next day to check up on Alfi, whose owners were getting her ready for a vet checkup.

“When we came to the door, she was happy to see us,” he said. “Her whole back end was wagging back and forth. Everyone on the crew are dog lovers, so she knew she was in good company.”

Milana Lundquist expressed her gratitude for the team that rescued Alfi.

“They were all so nice about it,” she said, describing the incident as both “embarassing and scary.”

“Alfi had gone from the type of barking where she was telling us, ‘I’m after something, I’m doing my job,’ to then, not yelping, but almost sounding like she was crying. And when they got the saws out, she got really quiet.”

Despite her ordeal, Alfi was still not willing to give up on her dream of catching the groundhog. Less than 24 hours after her rescue, a deluge of rain in the morning had prevented the Lundquists from immediately covering up the access point. Landscapers who had been at the home earlier in the day had left one of the back gates open, and she darted for the front yard. Tobias Lundquist grabbed her hind end and stopped her just before she was about to scurry under the house again.

Tobias Lundquist works for famed architect Peter Marino, who they said graciously sent over a contractor that day to secure all the decking and ensure Alfi won’t become trapped again. Milana said Alfi greeted the firefighters enthusiastically when they visited the following day to check on her.

“She was so excited to see them,” she said. “I think she thought, these are my new friends, we can just do this every time!”

Of course the Lundquists hope they will not see the department members under the same circumstances again, but expressed how grateful they were that they were there when they needed them.

“I want to celebrate the firemen,” she said. “They were so polite and nice and helpful. It was a really nice team effort and it was so nice to see this community of people. It was really impressive.”