Firefighters bailed with buckets, then lifted the horse free

Firefighters in Ashland County, Ohio, pulled a horse from an in-ground water tank last week after the animal broke through the roof and sank until only its head stayed above the surface. Crews from the Polk Jackson Perry Fire District reached Jackson Township shortly after 8 a.m. on Aug. 17, 2026. "You couldn't even see its ears," a witness told Ashland County Pictures. The tank's cover gave way when the horse stepped onto it. Before running a portable pump, firefighters bailed water out by hand with buckets, then used a crane to lift the animal free. What happened next took a moment. "I don't think the horse realized at first that the ground was beneath it and that it could stand," Fire Chief Daniel Nolt said. "Then it seemed like it realized, 'Hey, I can stand up again.'" The horse made it out alive, with volunteer firefighters and neighbors doing the lifting.