Joint rescue operation saves five kittens from inside fire truck at San Mateo Fire Academy

By Hope Bidegainberry on June 29, 2020

Five tiny kittens were saved through a joint rescue operation between Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) and the San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department at the Fire Academy in Foster City.

“We received a call from the San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department who had discovered a litter of kittens who were living inside the hose compartment of a fire engine truck at their training facility in Foster City,” said PHS/SPCA Communications Manager Buffy Martin Tarbox. “With the assistance of the fire department staff, we were able to safely rescue all five of the little kittens from the engine.”

The kittens are estimated to be about three to four weeks old and were taken to PHS/SPCA for evaluation and treatment. Because the kittens are motherless and under-aged, they will be placed in a foster home with a PHS/SPCA volunteer until they are old enough to be adopted.

“The mom was no where to be found, and it was unsafe to leave the kittens tucked in the hoses of a fire truck engine,” according to Tarbox.  “The kittens appear to be in good health, and it’s a miracle they were found before the truck was used for fire safety training courses.”

These kittens are just five of the more than 5,700 animals PHS/SPCA rescues every single year.