“I’ve never seen the water that high and rushing,” Chief Mike St. Louis said on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

Due to heavy rains the day before, the water was much higher than usual. A woman called the fire department after her dog got swept away. Apparently, the dog was off leash and tried to take his usual swim, but the water was too high and fast. After being taken downstream, he was able to climb aboard a boulder, where he obeyed commands to stay.

When firefighters responded, they could not find the woman or the dog. Dispatch had given St. Louis the woman’s cellphone number, so he called to find her. The team traveled farther down Algonquin Drive until they found tracks and a trail. They heard her yelling to the dog and followed the sound.

“Thank god for cellphones,” St. Louis said.

After assessing the situation, firefighters Barry Ballinger and Laurianne St. Louis donned dry suits and hooked into ropes. Mike and his son, Ryan St. Louis, managed Laurianne’s line from shore, while fire police members George Smith and Warren Clark managed Ballinger’s.

“Could not have gone better,” Laurianne said.

Once in the water, she was able to get a leash around the dog, who immediately jumped into her arms. She then passed the dog back to Ballinger, who got him to shore.

“It was a good feel-good moment for sure,” Ballinger said.

This was Ballinger’s first swift-water rescue. He joined the department three years ago.

Laurianne, who has been in the fire service for over 10 years, has responded to a number of water emergencies. This one, however, was special. It was her first that ended in rescue, not recovery.

“I cried all the way back to the firehouse,” Laurianne said.

Laurianne credited the whole team with a job well done.

“Couldn’t have done it without everybody there,” she said.

The Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department could not release the dog owner’s information for legal reasons, and the Lake Placid News could not locate them separately for comment before publication.