By Alesha Capone
Wyndham’s CFA crews put in an pawesome effort when they rescued a stowaway kitten from a car’s engine bay last week.
Members of the Truganina and Hoppers Crossing fire brigades were called out to Tarneit on June 4, where they helped to extract a little black-and-white cat trapped inside a vehicle.
Truganina brigade secretary Rosie Utteridge said the car’s owner, who had driven from Altona Meadows to Tarneit, had pulled over after hearing the kitten meowing from somewhere inside his automobile.
When the driver was unable to find the feline, the CFA was called in.
Locating the kitten from within the car’s innards proved to be a tough job for the CFA.
Ms Utteridge said that she and the other firefighters put the car onto a ramp in an effort to spot the feline. They also used thermal imaging equipment in the hope that the kitten would show up as a “hotspot” within the vehicle.
But because the car’s engine was hot, this proved difficult.
Eventually, after unscrewing part of the car’s panelling, they found the kitten.
“I took my jacket off and scooped it up,” Ms Utteridge said.
Ms Utteridge took the rescued kitten, which had no tags or collar, to the Wyndham council pound.
She said staff at the facility said the kitten would be put up for adoption if its owner was not found within eight days.
Ms Utteridge said that if no owner came forward she would be keen to adopt the kitten and name it Firey.
