Post by raychip on Jun 30, 2005 22:14:05 GMT -5
Stuck in a tree for three hours, a 60-year-old woman was reluctantly rescued 50 feet up from a pine tree while trying to rescue her parrot, said El Dorado County firefighters who responded to the incident.
Despite her clipped wings, the Senegal parrot named "Pumpkin" had reportedly glided down from her owner's house, the Saccanago residence on Halfmoon Road, and landed in the tree roughly a half mile walk down from the house, her owners estimated.
Pumpkin's owners, Judy and Darryl Saccanago, had gone looking for her after she had "spooked" off the porch.
The pair used to operate a parrot rescue service that placed the birds, who typically outlive their owners, into new homes. Pumpkin is one of eight parrots that the Saccanagos own, though they no longer adopt the birds out.
"I'd do anything for any of them," Judy said.
Darryl said he had attempted to climb up one of the pine trees when they had first heard Pumpkin calling to Judy, smacking kisses from up above, but the lower branches broke when Darryl attempted to climb them, so he decided to go back to the house to get some rope.
When he came back, Darryl was shocked to find his wife in the tree.
"My wife will not even go on the merry-go-round at the fair because she is afraid of heights," Darryl said.
But, Judy was more concerned about the safety of her precious pet than her fear of heights.
"I didn't even think about it," Judy said. "The climb was actually pretty easy ... I really didn't realize I was up that high."
However, once Judy climbed to an even level with her bird, she could not reach her because Pumpkin had landed out on the outermost part of the branch, Judy said. But, she had also reached a place that was difficult to rescue herself from.
"About 50 feet up she figured out that she was in a pretty precarious position," said Fire Capt. Larry Marinas, who responded to the scene along with other firefighters from station 21 in Camino.
However, despite that precarious place and the extended time Saccanago had spent in the tree with the breeze causing the top to sway, Marinas said firefighters still had to coax her out of the tree.
"She wasn't really interested in coming down until the bird was rescued," Marinas said.
Firefighter Phil Lewandowski cut several limbs from the tree with a chain saw in order to rescue Saccanago. Once she was safely down, he went back up the ladder with a net to try to snag Pumpkin.
"He got her scared enough that she flew off and fluttered down," Judy said.
The rescue was the first for the ladder truck, which, Marinas said, had been purchased less than a year ago from the Huntington Manor Fire Department in Long Island, N.Y. The truck had previously been used by firefighters post-9-11 after both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.
Monday's incident was a slightly different caliber rescue.
Despite her clipped wings, the Senegal parrot named "Pumpkin" had reportedly glided down from her owner's house, the Saccanago residence on Halfmoon Road, and landed in the tree roughly a half mile walk down from the house, her owners estimated.
Pumpkin's owners, Judy and Darryl Saccanago, had gone looking for her after she had "spooked" off the porch.
The pair used to operate a parrot rescue service that placed the birds, who typically outlive their owners, into new homes. Pumpkin is one of eight parrots that the Saccanagos own, though they no longer adopt the birds out.
"I'd do anything for any of them," Judy said.
Darryl said he had attempted to climb up one of the pine trees when they had first heard Pumpkin calling to Judy, smacking kisses from up above, but the lower branches broke when Darryl attempted to climb them, so he decided to go back to the house to get some rope.
When he came back, Darryl was shocked to find his wife in the tree.
"My wife will not even go on the merry-go-round at the fair because she is afraid of heights," Darryl said.
But, Judy was more concerned about the safety of her precious pet than her fear of heights.
"I didn't even think about it," Judy said. "The climb was actually pretty easy ... I really didn't realize I was up that high."
However, once Judy climbed to an even level with her bird, she could not reach her because Pumpkin had landed out on the outermost part of the branch, Judy said. But, she had also reached a place that was difficult to rescue herself from.
"About 50 feet up she figured out that she was in a pretty precarious position," said Fire Capt. Larry Marinas, who responded to the scene along with other firefighters from station 21 in Camino.
However, despite that precarious place and the extended time Saccanago had spent in the tree with the breeze causing the top to sway, Marinas said firefighters still had to coax her out of the tree.
"She wasn't really interested in coming down until the bird was rescued," Marinas said.
Firefighter Phil Lewandowski cut several limbs from the tree with a chain saw in order to rescue Saccanago. Once she was safely down, he went back up the ladder with a net to try to snag Pumpkin.
"He got her scared enough that she flew off and fluttered down," Judy said.
The rescue was the first for the ladder truck, which, Marinas said, had been purchased less than a year ago from the Huntington Manor Fire Department in Long Island, N.Y. The truck had previously been used by firefighters post-9-11 after both towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.
Monday's incident was a slightly different caliber rescue.