I would not let my crew go to a "cat in the tree' Call.
You take a $900,000.00 piece of "Emergency" equipment out of service along with 4 personnel for however long it took to get this cat, (that will come down when hungry enough) .
Just doesn't sound like good use of the rest of the taxpayers money. I know it's good story book stuff but if your family needed a ladder truck to get you or your loved one from a 3-4 story building and that truck was set up at a tree to get a cat, just how would I explain that to your family. Emergency trucks are just that, they are for use in an emergency or they are in standby at the station or on training, not getting cats from a tree or anywhere else.
My driver got in big Hot water over a cat in the tree call.
A lady calling in and asked if we had anything to get a cat out of a tree? He said yea, a
12 gage. Well she was a good friend of the mayor and my driver was at city hall the next day.
I had to explain to the Mayor that it was just frustration and a little joking. We don't go on cat in the tree calls and he would not shoot a cat anywhere.
Cat in the tree is a real good Volunteer Fire department PR thing.
Ron
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