COLUMBUS, Ind. — While not an official calendar designation, Columbus Fire Department firefighters are amusingly considering calling this week “CFD Animal Rescue Week” after two unique animal rescue calls within the first two days of the week.
The first animal rescue occurred Monday, just after 8 p.m. on the city’s west side, after a resident in the Tipton Lakes neighborhood discovered a beaver that had appeared to have fallen into a lake spillway drain, said Capt. Mike Wilson, Columbus Fire Department spokesman.
When firefighters arrived in the area of Heron Drive and Goeller Road, they found what they described as a juvenile beaver moving about the dry drain structure, Wilson said. As firefighters assessed the beaver’s condition, they concluded that the beaver did not appear to be injured or in any distress. The problem was that the beaver had managed to enter the drain, which was approximately 6 feet high, and would have only been able to self-rescue at a time when the water level within the drain would have risen to a point that would have allowed the animal to access the top of the drain.
Firefighters entered the drain with a small box and managed to safely remove the beaver, who then waddled away no worse for wear. The rescue took approximately 15 minutes.
The second rescue occurred Tuesdayat approximately 8:25 a.m. Firefighters were called to Central Middle School, 725 Seventh St., after school officials noticed a cat clinging to lattice approximately 2 feet from the top of the schools roof, Wilson said.
Firefighters estimated that the cat was approximately 40 feet above the ground after it had appeared to have climbed up the lattice on the exterior wall of the school. Identifying that the cat was close to the building’s roof, firefighters made access to the roof and were able to view the cat from above, Wilson said.
The cat appeared uninjured and was clinging tightly to the vine covered lattice. Firefighters devised a plan for rescue which included fall protection for the cat. Crews at the ground level utilized a large salvage tarp to be used in the event that the cat would happen to fall during the rescue attempt. Once the tarp was secured, Columbus firefighters and a Columbus Police Department school resource officer, using fall protection belts for their own safety, donned gloves and prepared to grab the cat. A single successful grab and the very anxious cat was successfully in the hands of Columbus firefighters, Wilson said. Firefighters carried the cat to the ground floor where it was safely released. The rescue of the cat took approximately 19 minutes.
The Columbus Fire Department is no stranger to unique animal rescues. In January of 2019, firefighters successfully rescued a deer that was stuck on the ice in the Tipton Lakes area.
Later that same year firefighters rescued a cat that had crawled into the wall of the Econo Lodge Suites. In 2020, firefighters rescued a baby raccoon from a storm drain located on the city’s north side.
With the use of the departments ice rescue protective equipment, which is utilized for both human and pet rescues since being purchased by the city in 2012, Columbus firefighters have responded to numerous ice water rescue and surface ice rescue calls for pets located on the ice.
