A woman shared the heart-wrenching moment she was reunited with her cat after a fire tore through her apartment building.
Casey Rae Borella (@caseadilla_._), 23, a cook, was just a few blocks from her New York City home when a TikTok acquaintance alerted her to the blaze. The two had previously discovered they lived in the same building through a video Borella posted.
“He called me and told me that there was a really bad fire in the unit next to mine and he didn’t know if it had spread. I immediately went into a panic and told him to tell the firefighters that I had a cat in my apartment,” Borella told Newsweek.
The 23-year-old sprinted home through the streets crowded with revelers for SantaCon, an annual bar crawl where participants dress as Santa Claus.
Casey and the fireman. The internet were obsessed with the cat’s savior.
caseadilla_._/caseadilla_._
“When we got there I was kind of hysterical and was yelling to the firefighters to get my cat.
“At that point, since the only thing I knew was that the fire was in the unit next to mine, I had assumed our unit had also gone up in flames and Olive had died. It was seriously one of the scariest and most traumatic moments of my life,” Borella explained.
Her panic wasn’t completely eased when firefighters informed her that her unit had no fire damage, only smoke—they could not find Olive, her beloved 2-year-old gray and white cat, who she had adopted from a family friend who runs a rescue center.
“I felt so relieved but was still freaking out and wouldn’t be calm until I had her, so I begged them to go back up there and find her. The guys I was talking to had the fire chief come over, and he assured me he would find her,” she said.
Ten minutes later, a firefighter emerged with Olive in his arms.
“Everyone around me was cheering and crying and filming, and it was a really sweet reunion. She was shaking really badly, so I took her into a neighboring hair salon for her to warm up and calm down,” Borella shared.
The community rallied to support her during the ordeal. The hair salon provided a safe space for Olive to recover, a local pet store donated a carrier, and a nearby vet saw her immediately.
TikTok users were captivated by the story after Borella posted a photo tribute to the firefighter who rescued her cat which received over 1.6 million views.
“Your cat is risking its life being your wingman,” wrote one viewer.
“Give that cat a raise! Went out and about to get you some man,” joked another.
“Omg, it’s like a Hallmark Channel movie,” said a third.
However, any hopes for a romantic twist were dashed when Borella revealed that the heroic firefighter is happily engaged.
While Borella’s unit suffered no structural fire damage, everything inside was permeated with smoke. Repairs will force her to move out temporarily.
“The unit it started in is completely desolate, and there are four other units with really bad damage as well. We were so, so, so lucky. No one was hurt across the building,” Borella added.
Fortunately, Olive was also healthy, though she smelled strongly of smoke. Borella gave her a bath, which Olive was not fond of.
Her owner lovingly described Olive as a “velcro cat” who enjoys sticking close by, eating human food, playing with feather toys, and napping in warm spots.
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Source : Newsweek