Orange County firefighters rescue kitten whose head got stuck in a tire

By MICHELE GILE

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    ORANGE COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — It was a technical rescue of a very delicate kind, as firefighters in Orange County worked to free a kitten who’d managed to wedge itself in the rim of a spare tire.

“From cats to dogs to large horse rescues, which we had a couple of days ago, we are absolutely here for the community,” Captain Sean Doran of the Orange County Fire Authority said.

Initially, the crew at Station 86 took out a bottle of Dawn soap and water to try to wiggle the kitten out of the tire. They sprayed it on the cat, but it didn’t work; it only made everything a bit more sudsy. Looking for other ways to free the pet, the firefighters called on a different crew with specialized equipment.

OCFA engineer Alex Swanson carries a saw-z-all on his unit and uses it to help free the kitten. A saw-z-all is a utility tool for rescuers but using it to free an animal was a first for Swanson.

“A cat with its head stuck in a spare tire, I’ve not had it,” he said.

The Garden Grove firefighters worked together to cut through the metal slowly. One firefighter protected the kitten’s head with a large kitchen spoon while another poured cold water on the wheel to prevent the metal from heating up.

“The biggest thing is not harming the kitten further,” Swanson said. “I knew that we were going to be successful and just making sure we weren’t hurting the kitten while removing and it all worked out.”

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