Boy, 3, rescued after getting stuck in pool filter of Dove Canyon home

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (KABC) -- A 3-year-old boy became stuck in the pool filtering system of a home in the Dove Canyon area of Rancho Santa Margarita on Saturday night.

A total of about 25 firefighters worked to free the boy, who somehow fell into the skimming system at a home in the 30 block of Highpoint. The system is used to suck debris such as leaves from the water.

"The child had slid down into the strainer mechanism that is located at the pool edge and in a squatting position his legs had become wedged under the pool coping," Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

When the first unit arrived shortly after 5:15 p.m., crews attempted to lift the child out of the apparatus by using dishwashing soap. Additional units arrived and used an electric drill to chip away the surrounding concrete and remove the pool filter strainer.

The boy was freed in 45 minutes. He was unharmed and reunited with his parents.