Like many things in this ever-changing world, the sight of a firefighter rescuing kitties from trees may seem as obsolete as rotary phones, privacy and good manners. However, the tradition still lives on in some small and friendly communities.
Just ask Max Heineken, a 20-year-old Fairbanks Fire Department recruit who performed his first rescue with the department by successfully plucking a stranded cat from a Wilbur Street birch tree Thursday afternoon.
Heineken said Steve, a white and orange domestic medium hair, was a “super friendly cat” who seemed grateful to be rescued.
“He wasn’t aggressive or anything. He was just kind of walking around, trying to see if he could climb down the ladder or not. He was staying on one branch, and he let me grab him and didn’t fight back. I walked down the ladder and he let my captain hold him for a little while,” Heineken said.