Curiosity got the cat

In a rite of passage each firefighter must eventually be brave enough to pull off, AFD rescued an indoor cat named Molty Friday after the kitty's curiosity got her stuck in a neighbor's tree. After she climbed the tree, she quickly "realized her exclusive life indoors had ill-prepared her for such a feat" and spent the next four hours on a "precarious perch." Probationary Firefighter Harley Preston did the dirty work in bringing the scaredy-cat back down.

A backstroking otter

Earlier this month, AFD ran—or swam—into another furry friend as a crew was called to respond to a perilous situation—an otter doing a backstroke in a retention pond at the J.J. Pickle Research Center in North Austin. The crew promptly sent out a ladder to the otter, which it rested on for a few minutes before swimming away. Texas Parks and Wildlife, which has reported an increase in river otter populations across Texas, eventually secured the otter and moved him to a more appropriate location.

Sunny the "smoke alarm" cockatiel

An unexpected hero named Sunny saved the day on a south Austin call earlier this month. After a smoke alarm failed to sound in the early hours of the morning, the cockatiel alerted his owner of smoke from a fire caused by a malfunction on the heating unit. After putting out the fire with dishtowels, the owner called 9-1-1 and was thanked for his heroics by AFD officers.