Zach Kalevich recently rescued a cat from a tree outside a home on Elba Drive just west of Arnold. It was the second time he rescued a cat since joining the Rock Community Fire Protection District in May, the fire district reported.
Rock Fire got a call about the cat on Aug. 8 after it had been in the tree for about 24 hours. Kalevich climbed a ladder to reach the cat and brought it down, the report said.
The person who lived at the home where the cat was rescued did not own the cat but took it to a veterinarian for an evaluation and to try to locate the owner. Alyson Barton, Rock Fire’s public information officer, said on Aug. 10 that she did not know if the cat’s owner had been located.
On his first day with Rock Fire, Kalevich had responded to a May 28 call to a parking lot outside Dave’s Diner, 529 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold to rescue a kitten that was inside an SUV’s wheel well. It was his first day working for Rock Fire.
After the kitten was rescued, it squirmed away from firefighters three times and hid under three other vehicles, including the crew’s firetruck, before it was finally caught and transferred to Goode Life Rescue.
“It was awesome,” Kalevich said of his first shift. “I always wanted to rescue a kitten, and I did it on my first shift. It made my dream come true.”