RESCUE
UNIQUE RESCUES
BY APRILE RICKERT
In April 2015 , Jeffersonville firefighters Capt . Rusty Hall and Rex Caldwell went to the scene of a huge fire that had ripped through Bridgepointe Apartments on Ewing Lane the previous day . They were just doing a follow-up , a final day-after walkthrough .
As they went room-to-room through one charred unit , one so badly damaged that the roof was burned away , they noticed cat food but no cat . As they lifted a mattress from a bed frame , Hall had to look twice to understand what he was seeing . Under the bed was a tiny 2-week-old kitten , eyes barely open , his mouth and nose covered with soot .
“ I looked under and I thought at first it was a stuffed animal or a little toy ,” Hall said . “ As i turned around it looked like it moved . It was the only little bitty kitten , all by itself . Little bitty old fur ball , it ’ s like ‘ how did that thing survive all this ?’”
The kitten , later named Miracle , was taken outside for emergency care . Staff at the Jeffersonville Animal Shelter cared for the kitty until it was deemed healthy enough to go home , and firefighter Caldwell adopted him .
40 Jeffersonville Fire Department / 150 years