RE: Bangor Firefighter who saved cat two weeks ago in fire, adopting cat

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firefighterjake

Minister of Fire
Jul 22, 2008
19,588
Unity/Bangor, Maine
http://www.wabi.tv/news/27960/bangor-firefighters-adopts-rescued-kitten

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This is a great story for so many reasons. Bruce Johnson (no relation to me even though we share the same last name) is known for being a bit of a curmudgeon and negative guy . . . but he is so excited and understandably proud of this save (actually the guys saved 4 cats and 2 rabbits in the fire -- sadly 2 cats died.) Bruce has visited "Flame" now two or three times and even has a picture or two of her on his cell phone. What type of guy is Bruce . . . I think this says all you need to know about him -- Bruce said to me . . . "I couldn't risk having the cat be rescued from the fire, go through two weeks of treatment and then be put in a shelter where someone might not adopt her and she would be euthanized."

It's funny . . . odd funny . . . not haha funny . . . since Bruce for some reason almost always seems to be working and almost always seems to be the one guy who ends up saving cats in fire and almost always has his picture taken and published in the newspaper (if you do a search at the Bangor Daily News you can find the pic of Bruce rescuing the cat and giving her oxygen).

On top of this . . . Bruce's sister is the one who donated the special pet oxygen masks to us several years back . . . and Bruce ends up using them.

And I have to give credit to the vet as well . . . Penobscot Vet has been treating this cat for the past two weeks. Burned front paws, burned ears, eyes were affected from the smoke and of course smoke inhalation and a burn on her back . . . and they are giving Bruce this cat (even spaying her) for free, even though I have no doubt normally the costs of this extended stay would be quite expensive. Needless to say Penobscot Vet has earned some good karma points in my mind.

Of course we're all having a bit of fun at Bruce's expense . . . the guys have renamed him "Hello Kitty" . . . the other day during the morning's roll call 5-minute Training Session one firefighter did training on the importance of always having "throw-down cats" in case of a fire when the media is around and while talking he started pulling out all of these stuffed cat toys . . . and some stuffed cat toys have mysteriously appeared in Bruce's seat on the truck and in his locker . . . the other day we went out and bought him a Hello Kitty decorated ice cream cake from Dairy Queen that said "Con-catulations Bruce" -- I also decorated the cat with some cat figurines and bought a few Hello Kitty party favors.

So yeah, we're having some fun with Bruce . . . but honestly . . . as a firefighter short of pulling out a person . . . rescuing a pet whether it be a dog, cat or iguana is just one of those special moments where you truly believe that we have the best job in the world.

I
 
Me and my cat Dusty say "Thank You" to Jake and all of his brothers and sisters for all that you do! :exclaim:
 
As somebody that never had a pet in their 64 years and got attached to a very wild stray that is sitting by my chair as I type, kudos to Bruce. I know what not wanting one to go down the road and get dead feels like.

Thanks for the post Jake.
 
That's awesome !!

Remember Scarlett?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_(cat)
 
BrotherBart said:
As somebody that never had a pet in their 64 years and got attached to a very wild stray that is sitting by my chair as I type.


I would pay good money to see a pic of that BB... :lol: :)

Thanks for sharing Jake.
 
Jake,,,what a great story,
and your 100% correct about the feeling you get when your
able to save someones pet from a fire.

a few years ago we had a fire at a gas staion/garage with an apartment
above it,

when we got on scene the resident was yelling their dog was inside
in a crate...i cant take full credit for the grab but to see the look on that persons face when we came
out with the dog was absolutely PRICELESS .
 
Fuzzball,Thomas & Sylvester all say thank you.
 

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Cats are great, My friend the farmer always had kittens around & I would hold & play with them untill the mother cat would walk up to me & seem to say, are you done now!, it was feeding time, Randy
 
firefighterjake said:
http://www.wabi.tv/news/27960/bangor-firefighters-adopts-rescued-kitten

---

This is a great story for so many reasons. Bruce Johnson (no relation to me even though we share the same last name) is known for being a bit of a curmudgeon and negative guy . . . but he is so excited and understandably proud of this save (actually the guys saved 4 cats and 2 rabbits in the fire -- sadly 2 cats died.) Bruce has visited "Flame" now two or three times and even has a picture or two of her on his cell phone. What type of guy is Bruce . . . I think this says all you need to know about him -- Bruce said to me . . . "I couldn't risk having the cat be rescued from the fire, go through two weeks of treatment and then be put in a shelter where someone might not adopt her and she would be euthanized."

It's funny . . . odd funny . . . not haha funny . . . since Bruce for some reason almost always seems to be working and almost always seems to be the one guy who ends up saving cats in fire and almost always has his picture taken and published in the newspaper (if you do a search at the Bangor Daily News you can find the pic of Bruce rescuing the cat and giving her oxygen).

On top of this . . . Bruce's sister is the one who donated the special pet oxygen masks to us several years back . . . and Bruce ends up using them.

And I have to give credit to the vet as well . . . Penobscot Vet has been treating this cat for the past two weeks. Burned front paws, burned ears, eyes were affected from the smoke and of course smoke inhalation and a burn on her back . . . and they are giving Bruce this cat (even spaying her) for free, even though I have no doubt normally the costs of this extended stay would be quite expensive. Needless to say Penobscot Vet has earned some good karma points in my mind.

Of course we're all having a bit of fun at Bruce's expense . . . the guys have renamed him "Hello Kitty" . . . the other day during the morning's roll call 5-minute Training Session one firefighter did training on the importance of always having "throw-down cats" in case of a fire when the media is around and while talking he started pulling out all of these stuffed cat toys . . . and some stuffed cat toys have mysteriously appeared in Bruce's seat on the truck and in his locker . . . the other day we went out and bought him a Hello Kitty decorated ice cream cake from Dairy Queen that said "Con-catulations Bruce" -- I also decorated the cat with some cat figurines and bought a few Hello Kitty party favors.

So yeah, we're having some fun with Bruce . . . but honestly . . . as a firefighter short of pulling out a person . . . rescuing a pet whether it be a dog, cat or iguana is just one of those special moments where you truly believe that we have the best job in the world.

I
Yep, Great story Jake. Thanks for sharing.
 
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