“ That ’ s how it got that name , it ’ s a miracle that it survived ,” Hall said , adding that to this day he doesn ’ t know how the kitten survived the fire .
“ We still just look at each other and go ‘ what can you say ?” he said . “ You just can ’ t find words or emotions . We just happened to be put in the right place at the right moment to find that kitten and make things good .”
While this situation was really unique and special , firefighters are often called to help rescue animals . Due to their ladders , Sgt . Justin Ames said they get lots of calls for cats stuck in trees . But as long as the cat is not in danger , it ’ s a situation they go into with caution , asking the owner to first try to leave food
near the tree in hopes of coaxing it down .
“ We generally will give it a few days before we put a firefighter at risk going up on a ladder to get a cat ,” Ames said . “ It ’ s probably one of the more dangerous things we could do .
“ You ’ re in a tree and you ’ re grabbing this animal that ’ s going to go crazy on you and claw you and bite you because it ’ s scared , and then you ’ ve got to balance that with climbing down a ladder .”
In 2019 , Lt . Brandon Hopf was part of the crew that spent more than an hour trying to gain the trust of a rare Macaw , which had escaped and was posted up in a tree on Spruce Street .
“ We were trying to dangle a toy from a pike pole and every time we got close to it , it would just fly in a different direction ,” Hopf said . “ There was just no way to get this little bird .”
When the bird went to a taller tree , the firefighters considered using the aerial ladder , which can reach 100 feet in the air . In the end , they used a tower truck , which has a bucket two firefighters can more securely stand on .
Firefighters also have rescued dogs that got swept into a drainage basin from flood waters — that involved lowering a police officer into the area where the dogs were . And then there ’ s the baby ducks who get trapped in sewers .
Jeffersonville Fire Department / 150 years 41