Washington state rescuers free boy stuck in mud 5 hours

PUYALLUP, Wash. - A fire department spokesman says rescue workers have freed a 16-year-old boy who spent about five hours stuck in mud up to his thighs in a muddy stream in Puyallup, Washington.

A Central Pierce Fire and Rescue spokesman says the boy and a friend wandered away from a skateboard park about 1 p.m. Monday and ended up at the stream near the Puyallup River. Spokesman Ed Hrivnak says the 16-year-old got stuck. The spokesman says the friend spent hours trying to help, then walked to a nearby fire station at about 5 p.m. to get assistance.

"Looking from above, it looks like you'd step in and just sink in your foot, but it was very deceiving," Hrivnak said.

Crews managed to free the teen by about 6 p.m. by running a water line down to create a gap between the boy's foot and the mud. Hrivnak says the boy was cold but didn't seem to be injured.

Puyallup is about 5 miles east of Tacoma.