Electrocuted Cat Fell in Flames 40 ft Seems OK

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — A stalking foray atop a power
pole left a lucky feline jolted, frizzled and dazed but otherwise OK
after he fell off the 40-foot pole and sparked a fire outside a fire
house.

The frazzled cat was discovered when paramedic-firefighters Andrew Chrzanowski
and Jeremy Hall responded to the fire Wednesday morning after the lights
went out at the Topaz Ranch Estates fire house.

"When we got the fire knocked down we saw this burned cat close to
the base of the pole," Hall said.

They assumed it was dead until Chrzanowski noticed it was breathing. He
put it on a blanket and gave it oxygen.

"We both thought that with the amount of burns he had he wasn’t going
to make it, but then we started to look more closely and we saw it was
all
superficial," Hall said.

The firefighters believe the cat was on the pole, because a bird’s nest
was found on top and there was a large black spot where something had touched
a relay switch on the 25,000-volt line.

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