(broken link removed to 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
---
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
![[Hearth.com] RE: Bangor Firefighter who saved cat two weeks ago in fire, adopting cat](/talk/data/attachments/61/61996-060d6775ecadacd9de8142a32a8b3c1c.jpg?hash=WCuqcVVo_S)
