“All told, Charlie was trapped in the cave for three days and for some of that time, shared it (unwillingly) with an approximately 2 year old, 200 pound bear,” the fire department said.

On Wednesday, they determined that the bear “had left the cave and not returned.” With the cave “bear-free,” the stage was set for Charlie’s rescue.

The dog, Charlie, spent three days trapped nearly 40 feet deep in an “extremely narrow cave shaft” on English Mountain in eastern Tennessee, according to a Facebook post from the Waldens Creek ...