3-year-old boy rescued from Denny's grease pit

GRAND CHUTE – A 3-year-old boy fell into an unsecured grease pit outside Denny's restaurant, 3470 W. College Ave., Friday afternoon.

Assistant Fire Chief Michael DeBruler said the boy stepped onto a plastic cover and fell into 4 feet of cold grease. He was pulled from the pit by his parents and was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton for treatment.

"He was covered head to toe with material," DeBruler said. "The biggest risk, obviously, was the drowning aspect of it, being a confined-space pit, but also the risk of infection with that type of material."

DeBruler said he didn't know the boy's condition.

The incident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Friday as the family was walking into Denny's. The restaurant has three plastic manhole covers over the grease pit, which is located in a landscape bed between the parking lot and a sidewalk. DeBruler said the covers are supposed to be secured.

"Most, if not all, restaurants that have grease pits have a third-party company come in on a regular schedule to pump out the grease pits," he said. "Whether it's their responsibility or the store's responsibility to check those pits, regardless they should be inspected on a regular basis to make sure they are secured. It's unclear whose responsibility it was in this case."

Post-Crescent Media called the restaurant for comment and was referred to Mark Enders, a Madison-based area manager for Denny's. Enders didn't immediately respond.

After the boy was rescued, firefighters worked with the restaurant to secure the covers. DeBruler said the incident was referred to the Outagamie County Public Health Division for review.

Mary Dorn, public health officer for Outagamie County, said a supervisor contacted Denny's to ensure that its grease pit was secured.

"The incident that occurred really didn't affect their licensure with us," Dorn said.

DeBruler said the emergency was an unusual situation for Grand Chute firefighters.

"For us, getting a near-drowning call is rare, but one involving a confined space is also rare, so it was kind of a double whammy," he said. "Fortunately, the parents were right there and able to pull the boy to safety. They had him out prior to our arrival."

— Duke Behnke: 920-993-7176, or dbehnke@postcrescent.com; on Twitter

@DukeBehnke