HONORABLE MENTION: NSB firefighter rescues feline from towering tree

Originally posted Fri, 2009-10-23 20:21

NSBNEWS.net video and photo by Sera Frederick. New Smyrna Beach firefighter Clayton Crain rescued a cat trapped 40 feet high in a tree for more than a day.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A dog may be a man's best friend, but a cat's best friend is a firefighter. In this case, New Smyrna Beach firefighter Clayton Crain.

More often than not you hear the proverbial joke about a cat being rescued from a tree. But this was no joke for Missie CiCi, a 3-year-old Burmese, who climbed a towering tree early Thursday. But when she looked down, the height was daunting. After all, a 40-foot drop would have likely taken up all of her nine lives.

The firefighters were on their way to rescue the cat after its owner finally got up enough nerve to call, embarrassed by her cat's sudden independence since the cat never leaves her sight.

After all, the cat is worth a thousand bucks, the relieved owner said, asking that her name be withheld in a small neighborhood in the vicinity of Robert Street off of West Canal Street.

The firefighters had to call off their run for Missie CiCi to tend to a motorcyclist who flipped over his handlebars when he braked suddenly for a car that pulled in front in the 600 block of North Dixie Freeway. He was wearing a helmet and was not injured and declined transport to the hospital to get checked out.

So the feline's wait stretched a little longer as darkness set in. Firefighter Clayton Crain, under the verbal guidance of Lt. Kevin Stack, made his climb up the big ladder truck.

As he moved ever so slightly closed to Missie CiCi, he did what was necessary to ensure the frightened feline wouldn't jump:

"I did the old grab," Crain said.

With the cat's neck skin firmly in his glove, he used his other hand to make the downward climb. And just like that, Missie CiCi was back in her elderly owner's secure arms, but not before a quick pose for the NSBNEWS.net video camera with the firefighter.

This was Crain's second feline rescue from a tree. Last week, he rescued a kitten. And so another CATastrophe was averted, thanks to New Smyrna Beach firefighters.