Firefighters Rescue Kitten From Under Highway!

Dis a furry goods story about a kitten gotted rescued!
Purrz, Katie Too

Reprint of Wichita Eagle Article Below

Firefighters rescue kitten from under elevated highway
BY STAN FINGER - The Wichita Eagle - Brian Corn/The Wichita Eagle

Wichita Fire Department firefighter Chris Whitchurch brings a kitten down the ladder after rescuing it from a storm drain trough under the Canal Route on East Douglas Wednesday evening. A kitten trapped in a drain trough under the canal route on east Douglas, meeows at bystanders on the street below. The cat was later rescued by firefighters.

Firefighters at Station 5 on Hillside near Second Street were just about to sit down to some fresh, hot fajitas when the call came in. A kitten was stranded in a drainage trough underneath I-135 at Douglas.

"We're not in the cat rescue business," Lt. Tom Benefiel said, "but ... "

A crew of firefighters rolled to the scene next to the offices of the Midway Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross, where a crowd of anxious onlookers had gathered.

The kitten, only about five weeks old, was peering out from the trough and at times seemed poised to jump.

"Who knows how long it had been up there?" asked James Williams, a spokesman for the Red

Cross, who first heard the kitten's meows as he was leaving the office for the day.

Benefiel sent the station rookie, firefighter Chris Whitchurch, up the ladder first. "He got bit," Benefiel said.

Then he sent another firefighter, Justin Brewster, up next. "He got bit," Benefiel said.

"I'm not sure," Williams said, "the cat wanted to be rescued."

Indeed, the kitten proved feisty, scampering to the opposite side of the ramp from the hoisted ladder. So while one firefighter scrunched below the trough on the ladder, another sprayed soapy water from the other side — forcing the kitten to retreat within reach of the first firefighter.

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"We probably weren't going to get a second chance," Benefiel said.

Williams said he was tempted to adopt the kitten and make it a mascot for the Red Cross, but firefighters gave it to a pair of watching girls who indicated they were students at nearby East High. The girls, Emily Ivy and Adrianna Ortiz, had first seen the kitten around 3:30 p.m. and called 911 and Animal Control.

Animal rescues are rare for firefighters. Benefiel said he's been to three in the past five years.

He's lost count of the number of times someone has asked for help retrieving a cat from a tree or a roof. Simply put, Benefiel said, a cat who's climbed a tree or a house is going to come back down when it's darn good and ready, but this case was different.

"That cat," Benefiel said, "wasn't going to come down."

It likely became frightened by traffic on the Canal Route near First Street and sought refuge in the rain trough, he said. It was too small to climb back up onto the freeway or survive a leap of some 40 feet onto Douglas.

"I'm not a big cat lover at all," Benefiel said, "but it's kind of hard to turn down a kitten when it's sticking its head over the edge."

Reach Stan Finger at 316-268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com.