How many firefighters does it take to rescue a cat from a roof?
"HEALTH and safety regulations meant more than 20 firefighters were called to rescue a cat from the roof of a two-storey house in North Suffolk."
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/bonkers_more_than_20_suffolk_firefighters_rescue_cat_from_tree_1_854585
"Last night, the fire service’s response was criticised as “ridiculous” and a waste of taxpayers’ money."
Public Comments
1. My guess is that it was a slow day.2. At least 20...they were playing it safe
3. Apart from one crew all returned returned to base within a few minutes
4. Over here it involves sending an entire firetruck, the police as well as an ambulance. It is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money since very few dead cats have ever been found on roofs. The same goes for dead cats in trees.
The cat certainly does not think it has to be rescued. Once I put my cat up on the roof deliberately, and the cat managed to find a way down by itself. It's the owners of the cats who freak out. The owners can't imagine how THEY (the owner) would ever be able to get down from the roof, so they panic. Meanwhile, the cat is sitting up on the roof, calmly and smugly looking down at a frantic owner running back and forth, waving its hands, yelling maybe, and the cat is thinking "WTF??? Why are all these people in my yard and why are they pointing at me??"
5. I would say it would take at least 4 to get cat off the roof 1 for the ladder 2 for the truck and one to stand there and watch
6. They could not have made a cartoon funnier. Top Cat would have been proud of the response. This proves, if prove was needed, that management at whatever level have lost it completely and have now become the worshippers of the PC Brigade.
Ps. The cat in question was last seen rolling about,apparently in fits of laughter.
7. The wording is very ambiguous in the article, and I think it is all a bit of an exaggeration.
8. Should be none if it can get up it can get down
9. When a 'cat/dog' get stuck 'anywhere' its considered by the 'fire-service' as a practise exercise - not life threatening - and they turn-out mob handed so's their daily report shows they were 'called-out' on that day - as opposed too sitting around all day and doing nothing - they protecting their 'usefulness' in these times of cuts/reductions in everything - fire service personal are trained too 'climb-ladders' and deal with 'high buildings' - so the only Health and Safety issue can be - is the cat - how to 'grab hold of it' - and if that be the case - these 'morons' might just as well get another job - because their no use in the fire-service - thats for sure.
The police operate the same system 'in-anything' - the scene is surrounded by police people - all standing around with their hands in their pockets.
The 'utter-waste' these departments cause in situations like this + others - its no wonder the government wants both organisations completely overhauled and made more accountable for their costings claims from the taxpayers.!!
Any 'criticism' of those 2 services is met with this 'defunct' excuse of Health & Safety or for the Safety of the Public - another well heard of phrase they both use all the time.
10. Don't know but you can bet your as* they all came back bloody hero's as usual
11. As David H has explained, the Fire Service (Brigade) often used events such as cat stuck up a tree as an exercise. The other thing too is that with fire engines already out on the street, it actually makes the community at large much safer. Also, there is no such thing as bad publicity and the fire brigade, which we pay for are ever keen to be seen to be doing something.
I'll explain it a bit like this. A pal of mind, now retired, was a fireman for twenty (20) years and never once got called out on a 'shout'. Yes, I know, hard to believe, but often true, specially in more rural areas.
My local fire station (c1909) came out several weeks ago and fitted a FREE smoke alarm in my house. Brilliant exercise in public relations.
Same when it comes to rescuing a cat stuck up a tree.
Many years ago on the London Southbank, there was a massive warehouse fire. The London Fire Brigade could quite easily have put this out in a matter of hours. Instead, they kept the fire under control with lots of smoke and nearly every fireman in London had a chance to go in wearing breathing equipment and bring out a heavy dummy over their shoulder in the traditional fireman's lift.
The LFB kept this up for nearly a fortnight - blimey!
12. I am sure you read about the fatuous exercise by the police using a helicopter and a number of cars to arrest a man for 'stealing' a piece of scrap worth less than a pound which scrap had already been discarded.The superintendent in charge of this nonsense then went on to claim that the cost to the taxpayer (that's you and me) was less than £250.00. As has been said you couldn't make it up ! Seems to me there is plenty of room for cuts in that particular police service.
