Fire chief, linemen rescue kitty from power line

January 4, 2013

RIVERTON TWP. – Thursday night was a first for Riverton Fire Chief Joe Cooper. He got to help rescue a cat – not from a tree but from a power pole. Cooper, along with Great Lakes Energy linemen Tom Mclouth and Rodney Herrema, saved a kitty that had been trapped on the pole for a couple days at the corner of Meisenheimer and Schwass roads.

“Carla Hanson had been posting on Facebook that there had been a cat on a power pole for the past few days,” Cooper said. “It was pretty high up there, a lot of wires. She and her family had been trying to entice the cat down with food but it wouldn’t come down. A lot of people were suggesting that she call the fire department, so I figured I would check it out last night.

“When I got there, I called Central Dispatch and asked them if they could contact Great Lakes Energy, which owns the power poles. Tom and Rodney came out. Tom went up in a lift truck and got the cat down. It came right to them. I think it was ready to get down.”

Hanson said her husband, who is a lineman, spotted the cat a few days ago.

“I’m an animal lover and I said, what can we do?” Hanson said. “This is really a story about the power of social media because I posted something on Facebook. The next thing I knew, I had 45 comments from people offering suggestions.”

Chief Cooper

“It’s definitely a house cat,” Hanson said. “We will take care of it until someone claims him, although he is fitting in nicely here. He has warmed up, is eating and moving around nicely.

“The kitty has been rescued from the power line and is in a warm house with milk and food. Thanks again, my heroes Joe Cooper and Tom Mclouth. Kitty mission complete.”