It could have been an idyllic 1950s sitcom scene if it weren’t for the buzzing drone and cell phone-toting spectators.
Firefighters and a tactical team deployed to downtown LaSalle on Wednesday morning to rescue a little stranded cat.
The animal wasn’t trapped in the typical neighborhood tree; the 21st century kitten in distress opted for a water tower converted to hold cellular infrastructure.
It was easy to hear the meows coming from the top, even though the cat was more than 85 feet from the ground.
A crowd of about 20 people – from a retired couple to a group of excited kiddos in matching outfits – huddled along the sidewalks to watch the scene unfold.
“I’m a cat lover,” Sarah Polizin said, staring up through the bright morning light as the team used an orange rope to lift a pet carrier to the top of the tower.
“I was just going home for lunch,” she said.
She ended up sticking around until the cat was safe and sound.
Technical Rescue Systems, a Fort-Collins based training firm, came out to save the cat, which had been stuck since Sunday.
“It’s a little bitty cat,” said company founder Steve Flemming, who was calling the shots that day. “(I don’t know) how in the world it got up there.”
The tower’s legs hold ladders, and the water hold has a wraparound catwalk. The kitty spent much of its time on little metal pods holding cell equipment.
Flemming said La Salle officials called his office Wednesday morning, filled him in on the situation and asked for help.
“I was like, ‘Absolutely, we’re doing that,’ ” he said.
His company saves animals – from dogs to deer – pretty regularly. They train workers all over the world in safe climbing techniques. Flemming, like many of his employees, is a firefighter. He spent almost four decades at Poudre Fire Authority before retiring.
He said the LaSalle Fire Department did all of the risk assessment work and set the groundwork for his team.
He had two climbers, Brady Thomas of the Greeley Fire Department and Daniel Winning of the Poudre Fire Authority, on the tower. A handful of other crew members were on the ground.
The two climbers wrangled the cat into the pet carrier and lowered him to the ground in the carrier.
Once the crowd knew the cat was inside the crate, they all clapped. They cheered and applauded even more loudly when the two dismounted from the steely tower.
“I’m just glad it turned out well,” Winning said once he was on the ground.
He and Flemming held the same concern: Sometimes, when cats are scared, they’ll bail off the tower.
“I was a little worried,” Winning said.
The cat was immediately taken to the vet for a checkup.
