Cat Credited With Waking Up Bremerton Woman Amid Fire (Washington State)

The Kitsap Sun (Washington State) ^ | March 2, 2009 | Derek Sheppard

[Stoat]

Cat Credited With Waking Up Bremerton Woman Amid Fire

By Derek Sheppard (Contact)
Monday, March 2, 2009

 

BREMERTON —

In a rare role reversal, it was the cat who helped out the firefighters.

More importantly, it was a cat who saved a woman's life with what would normally be a routine annoyance for cat owners — the early-morning face pawing.

Around 6:45 a.m. Saturday, an elderly Bremerton woman's Veldee Avenue home filled with smoke billowing through the vents from the home's heater.

The smoke alarm was going off, but she didn't hear it.

Good thing she has a cat.

The feline, whose name was not immediately available, leapt on the woman's bed and pawed at her face until she woke up.

"If the cat hadn't woken her up, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have made it," Bremerton Fire Department Lt. Charlie Rinard said.

The woman showed signs of smoke inhalation, he said. In most fatal fires, smoke kills the victim, not flames.

The cat left the building with its owner and was OK after the fire.

The fire was contained inside the heater and firefighters cleared the smoke from the home, but it will probably require further cleaning, Rinard said.

"It could have been worse," he said.

[Doohickey]

Bremerton woman...

When did they stop calling them "Bremalos"?

[Thrownatbirth]

When did they stop calling them "Bremalos"?

When they started calling them "Bremosauruses".

[PERKY2004]

[diamond6]

I love cats!!!

[skepsel]

The cat was probably checking to see if the lady was dead yet and he could begin eating her.

[PhilDragoo]

Priorities Straight Ping

[BooBoo1000]

get over it, cats are one of he smartest critters we have.you see people every day going to work to support a cat.

[PhilDragoo]

You have it backwards. I and my pingees are cat-people.

[peggybac]

Great story. My cats would just hide in the closet. They were worthless earthquake detectors when I lived in LA.

[Auntie Mame]

The cat was probably checking to see if the lady was dead yet and he could begin eating her.

This thread is hilarious, but hands down, you win! LOL!

[Vicki]

Cats can make good “watchdogs”. Twice my cats have alerted me to strangers making their way through the woods into my neighbor’s yard. Years back I also had a cat attack a boyfriend who was threatening me.

[Slings and Arrows]

[Slings and Arrows]

OLD POSSUM’S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS

T.S. ELIOT

1939

THE NAMING OF CATS

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

[Girlene]

[pbmaltzman]

I don't care how selfish cats are. If one of mine pawed my face and woke me up in time to escape a fire, that cat would be my HEROINE (my current three are all female) in my book, and she could have her favorite treats forever.

It wouldn't matter to me that the cat might only be thinking of herself; if a side effect of her selfishness was that I escaped death by fire and/or smoke inhalation, that would be good enough for me.

In such a case, I'd be more than happy to be her staff; in fact, I'll admit it--I'd be more than happy to be her grateful SLAVE for the rest of her natural life (well, I already am).

[Kimmers]

LOL.....and I am glad you are okay and you still love your none hero dog....thanks for the morning laugh..

[angcat]

But that's ok because they are OH so cute!

[peggybac]

Thank you! They are my babies. Notice the messy dining room table and also notice how the chairs and credenza are covered because they are not declawed. Oy.

[I Buried My Guns]

This is mine. She climbs on my face in the morning so I will let her outside. No matter how far I throw her, she keeps coming back to assault my face.

[skepsel]

Thanks. My screen name is for a cat I had 25 years ago. The original Skepsel was a relentless eating machine; he’d finish his food, swat his sister Roxy away from hers, finish that and try to ooze in between the dogs and theirs! I think he had a route in the neighborhood too, begging from the neighbors. The vet said he was healthy, it wasn’t worms and he never got fat either.