Camden, New Jersey Engine Co. 1 was returning from an Alarm System Call when they were flagged down by two Camden County Sheriff Officers.
They told Captain Bob Dowhy that there was a small cat trapped in a drain sewer and asked if he could help out in the rescue.
There was a bad rain storm heading towards the city and it was expected to hit the area in a few minutes.
Captain Dowhy, along with Firefighters Darryl Jackson, Edberto Mendez, and Kevin Pollard, went to work.
Capt. Dowhy called Camden County Fire Radio, and alerted them that they were out on a cat rescue at 4th and Mickle Blvd.
They proceeded to lift the sewer cover off. Looking down the sewer, they saw a gray cat looking up at them.
Firefighter Jackson climbed in the hole but the cat went back into the sewer pipe. This happened right as the rain storm hit, dumping thousands of gallons of water onto the city, flooding the streets with 6 to 8 inches of water. All that flooding water eventually came rolling down the street into the drain sewer.
Firefighters feared the cat would be washed away into the main sewer line.
After 10 minutes the rain stopped.
Jackson looked into the sewer pipe and saw the cat was still alive. The cat was about 10 feet back, but he still could not reach it.
Captain Dowhy made a call for the City Animal Control truck. They arrived and had some cans of cat food with them and lured the cat to the food. They were eventually able to grab the cat with their rescue net.
Within minutes, the cat was in their box and on its way to the animal shelter.
Engine 1's members picked up their tools and went back in service, living up to their Name "Heart Of The City ".
