In the nick of swine ...

250 pound pot-bellied pig pulled from pool

Life is back to normal this week for Brocoli, the 250-pound pot-bellied pig on Ponte Mira Way.

But Saturday afternoon, the pig was in over its head in its family's backyard swimming pool — and the Tracy Fire Department had to be called in for the rescue.

Patricia Brown said she opened up the gate to a pen where Broccoli lives while she swept her backyard. The large animal bolted across the yard, in spite of her efforts to control him, and headed straight to the pool.

"Once he makes up his mind to walk somewhere, he can't be stopped," she said.

The swine fell in and quickly sank in 6 feet of cold water. Brown jumped in after him, clothes and all, and pulled him to the surface. But, after 45 minutes of struggling, she couldn't get him out of the pool.

"I got his hooves on the top of the pool, but the harder I pulled, the more he pushed back," she said.

She got out of the water, dashed inside the house and called 9-1-1.

Tracy police got the call at 1:25 p.m., and the Tracy Fire Department crew from the Grant Line Road and Parker Avenue station, including Firefighter Tony Perez, Engineer Laura Hernandez and Capt. Pat Vargas, responded two minutes later. Tracy Fire Department Division Chief Andy Kellogg said the crew found the woman and Brocoli in the water and provided help lifting Brocoli off the top step.

Brown said that once firefighter Perez got in the water with her, it took only half a minute to get Brocoli out — "but it took a lot of muscle," she said.

What happened next to the pot-bellied pig? Brown said he appeared to suffer from hypothermia after such a long time in the cold water, so she gave him a nice hog shower.

Contact reporter Bob Brownne at brownne@tracypress.com.