Firefighters use 250 gallons of water to rescue kitten

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- It took two firetrucks, five firefighters, several animal rescuers and about 250 gallons of water to rescue a 2-pound kitten.

Animal control officers tried coaxing the gray tabby out of a storm sewer drain with encouraging words and food Monday before giving up after about an hour and a half.

Firefighters tried banging tools on one end of the pipe and flashing lights Monday night in hopes of driving him out the other end -- but that didn't work either.

It wasn't until firefighters flushed about 250 gallons of water through the 10- to 12-inch pipe that the feline rushed into the hands of firefighter Kevin Siers, who was standing inside a manhole.

"We had about an hour and a half of fun," Siers said Tuesday. "Everybody was pretty tickled" when the cat emerged.

After a very frightening day and night, the kitten seemed more relaxed and was warming up to humans, said Dan Hendrickson with the Humane Society of Parkersburg.

A visitor to the shelter signed adoption papers Tuesday.