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An Orange County firefighter came to the rescue when a 20-year-old mule named Eli appeared for the count.
The Orange County Fire Department filmed a video of Operation Trabuco Canyon last week. Eli had been experiencing life-threatening coli pain, the agency said at X. Station 18 that he intervened when the mule owner was unable to get him to stand.
The footage showed the firefighters and veterinarians twitching and struggling the horizontal horse as they rescued him. A firefighter crew then tied up Eli, flipped him over and used rescue devices called twins to wind him up.
According to OCFA spokesman Sean Dolan, the equipment was also used in World War I to roll upside-down tanks.
Meet Mule.
He lives today thanks to professional and caring teamwork.
Eli had lying on a food stall at Trabuco Canyon yesterday for hours, but was unable to get up and suffering from painful coli pain that would have been fatal if left too long. pic.twitter.com/jefjgfw931
– ocfa (@ocfireauthority) July 19, 2025
“It has this incredible ability and strength,” he told The Times. “These horses are obviously, or mules in this case are not comparable to that.”
The firefighters pulled Eli out of the stable before taking him to his feet. After a while he returned to his stable and said he was doing much better, authorities X-Post said.
According to the University of Minnesota, horses and other horses are naturally prone to coli pain. Allowing animals to roam will help relieve pain, the university said. Doran said Eli lay down and could not hand over the food, and there was a risk of pressure on his organs. Coli pain could have been fatal if he hadn’t been upright, he said.
Doran said he saw rescues happen on Friday and visited Eli again on Sunday. He spoke to one of his owners, an animal lover who owned Eli for almost every life of the mule. Everything about rescue was “just goodness, pure good.”
He also said OCFA firefighters were trained to provide large-scale animal rescues with horses. In addition to everyday rescue skills, they learn how to approach horses and interpret how they need to treat horses according to the situation.
“It’s a seamless teamwork behavior,” he said.
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