NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A year after firefighters rappelled down a 40-foot bluff to save a stranded dog in Emerald Park, that same pit bull — now named Cliff — returned this week to the North Little Rock Fire Department for a reunion that brought his rescue story full circle.
In October 2024, a hiker in Emerald Park heard faint cries coming from below the cliffside and called for help. Firefighters with the North Little Rock Fire Department’s rope-rescue team arrived and spent hours on a narrow three-foot-wide ledge, coaxing the nervous, malnourished dog to safety.
North Little Rock Fire Department saves dog that had fallen down cliffside
Battalion Chief Wesley Stephens recalled how patience and teamwork made the difference that day.
“We practice for a lot of things and although that’s not one that we really practice a lot for, we just problem-solved our way through it,” Stephens said. “The days like this make all the long, hard days out there, sweating through it, worth doing again.”…