NFPA Journal - Summer 2021 - 27

Dispatches Oddities

HUH?

GETT Y IMAGES

RECENT HEAD-SCRATCHERS
FROM THE WORLD OF FIRE
AND LIFE SAFETY

FLORIDA WOMAN ENDURES
SEWER SAGA
A 43-year-old Florida woman says she
spent three weeks in the sewers of
Delray Beach, surviving off a single,
unopened can of ginger ale she found
during her wanderings.
The woman was rescued by firefighters on March 25, when she was pulled
from a storm drain naked. She told
police that the incident began following
a Bible session on the journey of the
Prophet Elijah; inspired, she set out on
her own journey by going for a swim in
a pond and reportedly ending up in the
city's sewer system.
Although the woman has a history of
drug use and mental illness, according
to CBS 12 News in West Palm Beach,
her family has been " supportive and
believes the account that was given to
authorities. "
This isn't the first time responders
have had to rescue an unlucky person
from an inadvertent sewer slog. In July
2020, NFPA Journal reported in this
section that two men had to be rescued
from the sewers of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the space of six months. Neither
of the Pennsylvania men were apparently lucky enough to find a sustaining
can of soda, however.

ANIMAL HOUSE
In what authorities deemed a " masscasualty incident " -a term usually
reserved for active shooter events and
other violent, large-scale attacks-34
cats died in a March house fire in New
Bedford, Massachusetts.
Perhaps more surprising than the high
death toll was the 26 felines who survived, meaning at least 60 cats had been
living in the house. " We thought there
were maybe 15 or 20 and when they said
60, we were just like completely shocked, "
one neighbor told NBC 10 in Providence,
Rhode Island. " We had no idea. "
While many people took to social
media to sling accusations of animal
abuse toward the homeowner, at least
one neighbor jumped to her defense.
" She is not a crazy cat lady, she's a
loving cat lady, " the neighbor told NBC
10, adding that she hoped the surviving
cats would be returned to the woman.
The cause of the blaze was not
reported.

BACKSEAT BUZZ
For many people, the buzz of a single bee
is enough to put their head on a swivel.
When a New Mexico man returned to his
car after grocery shopping in late March,
he discovered that a swarm estimated
at 15,000 had used a cracked window to
invade the back seat of his car. Not knowing what else to do, he called 911.
One of the responders was Jesse
Johnson, a firefighter and paramedic
with the Las Cruces (New Mexico) Fire
Department. Though he was off duty at
the time, the call held a special appeal
for Johnson, who spends his free time

beekeeping. At the scene, he donned his
white beekeeper's jacket and head covering and spent nearly 30 minutes gently
removing the bees so they could be safely
relocated. Johnson said the mass of bees
weighed about three and a half pounds.
Johnson explained to the New York
Times that bee colonies commonly
split apart in the spring, with swarms
following a queen to a new home.
" Luckily, when bees are swarming,
they're pretty docile, " he said. " It's
much more intimidating than it is
dangerous. ... I'll do anything to keep
people from killing bees. "

APPARATUS ANTICS
First responders in the Lone Star State
may want to consider locking the doors
of their emergency vehicles more often:
February, March, and April each saw an
incident involving a stolen emergency
vehicle in Texas.
First up was a fire truck stolen from
a fire station in Austin in February.
The perp led police on a 45-mile chase,
dropping oxygen tanks, fire extinguishers, and other equipment onto the
highway before spike strips were used
to disable the vehicle, according to
News Channel 4 San Antonio. In March
and April, two Dallas Fire-Rescue
ambulances were stolen-the former
incident resulting in a brief chase, but
the latter resulting in a two-hour chase
that was watched by tens of thousands
of people in real time on social media.
Our friends across the pond seemed to
get a kick out of the story, commenting on
a BBC News video, " This is the USA's true
gift to the rest of the world, " and " Well, it's
the country of entertainment! "
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

Dispatches_Summer 2021 DCS to ADA for PDF to LP.indd 27

| 27

4/28/21 5:38 PM
https://nfpa.org/journal
NFPA Journal - Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Summer 2021
