AFR rescues a person from an underground storm drain downtown. How did they get in there?

Published July 30th, 2025 at 7:17 am, Last Updated July 30th, 2025 at 7:18 am

A midday call for help outside a Downtown high-rise office building led Albuquerque firefighters to an unusual rescue Tuesday morning.

At about 10:40 a.m., rescue personnel were summoned to 5th Street and Marquette Avenue for reports of a person “stuck in a storm drain.” They soon found a person “below grade” (aka below the street level) unable to get out.

Photos and details from first responders on scene show firefighters squeezing into space no more than 1-foot tall to remove a storm water grate and lower a narrow ladder into the storm water drainage system to provide the person access.

So what was the person doing in there? Fire and Rescue Spokesman Lt. Jason Fejer says they dropped something in the grate and got stuck retrieving it.