The Buffalo Fire Department brought two stranded women and their two cats to safety in an intricate rescue overnight, after the women and pets were trapped by storm-swollen Cazenovia Creek waters.
Firefighters responded to an 11:17 p.m. call about the two women stranded at the edge of the creek under a bridge near Cazenovia Park.
"They basically were trapped on the ledge because of the rising water," Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. said.
One firefighter, wearing a life vest with a tether fastened to his harness, was lowered onto the ledge with a 100-foot rope, before he secured the victims with additional lines. They then were brought to safety.
No injuries were reported in the rescue, which kept the last firefighters on the scene for about an hour and 45 minutes.
"They did a great job," Whitfield said. "The women and the animals are safe. Our guys and gals are safe. They did a wonderful job."
The fire commissioner described the rescue as beyond routine work for the department.
"It's a specialty call for us, a water rescue," he said. "It takes some expertise and incident-specific equipment to effect these kinds of rescues. It's something we've taken on more and more in the Buffalo Fire Department."
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
