This past weekend, Chelsea Engine 3 Firefighters Lieutenant Nicholas Quatieri, Firefighter Adrian Diaz, Firefighter Chad Bowden reunited two separate residents with their lost pets; one cat and one dog.
A resident at 4 Parkway Court reported her cat, Teft, escaped from her apartment and entered the Chelsea Creek area behind the residence. When Engine 3 arrived, the resident explained Teft had gotten loose. She could hear the cat in the high grass area behind her apartment, but could not see or reach it. After spending time assisting the resident with no luck, Engine 3’s crew instructed her that if she was able to get Teft to come closer to the fence, they would return and attempt to retrieve him.
Approximately two hours later, Engine 3 responded back to Parkway Court, where the resident had located her missing cat just on the other side of the fence. To minimize damage to the property, the crew removed several ties securing the fence to support poles. While two firefighters lifted the bottom of the fence, another firefighter, wearing full protective gear, was able to slide underneath and enter the Chelsea Creek area. The firefighter secured the cat before he could run away, then safely passed it back over the fence to its owner.
In a separate and unrelated call, the same crew responded to a Chelsea resident who found a lost dog and brought the animal to the Mill Hill Fire Station. Firefighters cared for the dog while efforts were made to locate its owner. Shortly afterward, the dog’s owner was located and arrived at the station, where the dog and owner were happily reunited.
Fire Chief John Quatieri praised the firefighters for their willingness to assist residents and their pets during both incidents. “These are great examples of the commitment our firefighters have to helping the people we serve. It also shows the benefit of having a fire station in the neighborhood that gives residents a place they can turn to when they need help. Our fire stations are more than places where firefighters respond from, they are part of the neighborhood they serve.”
