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Helena · Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 75 Location: yorkshire, UK

Catapult
Firemen impress ASPCA

There is a small rural town, somewhat northeast to the
city of Niagara Falls, NY. One evening, in November 2000 a resident of
the town called the local volunteer fire department to request
assistance in removing their cat from a tree. Since this
was a "questionable" call, the fire control dispatcher
called the fire chief at home to ask if he wanted to respond.
The chief said sure, call out the department, since it was
early evening and it shouldn't be a problem for the
volunteers to respond.

The fire department responded with a rescue truck which
had an extension ladder. The tree, however, was too tall
and willowy to support the weight of the extension ladder.
Rather than send men back to the fire hall to bring the aerial
ladder truck, one of the firefighters suggested an
alternate course of action. Two of the firefighters supported
the ladder while a third climbed high enough to tie a rope
around the tree at about half its height.

The other end of the rope was tied to a trailer hitch on a
pickup truck, with the truck slowly driven forward, forcing
the tree to bend over. One firefighter was poised to grab the
cat as soon as it was within his reach.

The knot securing the rope to the trailer hitch slipped free.

The cat was last seen airborne heading south toward the
city of Niagara Falls, and was never seen again.

This incident adds a rather new definition to the word "catapult."

Needless to say, the particular fire department did not receive
praise from the local ASPCA when the story made its rounds.