Firefighters with Norfolk Fire-Rescue received a strange call last week: a cat and a man were stuck in a tree.
We've all seen it. An overzealous cat climbs a tree, only to realize that they're much better at climbing up than they are at climbing down. Usually, it takes a daring firefighter to scale the ladder to rescue the stranded feline from the branch.
But sometimes, passersby try to take things into their own hands. As one man in Norfolk just learned, some things are better left to the professionals ...
A Norfolk man became trapped in a tree himself last week when his plan to save a trapped cat ended up backfiring. The man used his own ladder to climb 50 feet up into the tree, before ditching the ladder and free-climbing higher. Eventually, he had the same crisis that the trapped cat had: he could climb up, but not down.
Norfolk Fire-Rescue responded to the scene and were able to rescue the man within just 30 minutes. The decision was made to attempt to rescue the cat, as well, since the equipment was already deployed. Firefighters on the ground made it sound like rescuing the cat was not guaranteed.
As cliche as it sounds, Norfolk Fire-Rescue doesn't perform a lot of cat rescues.
"That's not something we normally do," explained Norfolk Fire-Rescue Batallion Chief Harry Worley. Still, when it does happen, the fire department is ready to help save cats, dogs, humans, or whatever creature ends up getting stuck in a tree.
"The call dispatched for a man in distress," the Norfolk Fire-Rescue posted on social media. "The man was in a tree at the park about 30 feet up. He had gone up a ladder and into the tree to rescue his cat. The crews from E7A , L7A, R1A with B2A in command rescued the man from the tree. While there, with all the rope rescue equipment deployed, it was decided to attempt a rescue on the cat. FAO Rafter was able to retrieve the feline from the tree and return it to the owners."
While it certainly wasn't the most exciting work, firefighters with Norfolk Fire-Rescue were able to save two lives last week and earn the respect and gratitude of the community.