EVERYONE'S heard of firefighters rescuing wayward kitties out of trees. In West Vancouver, it's ducks out of chimneys.
Responding to a public assistance call on the afternoon of April 28, West Vancouver Fire and Rescue members attended a home on the 2400-block of Bellevue Avenue
"Our officer reported back that the homeowner had a live duck trapped in the chimney," said assistant chief Martin Ernst.
Upon looking up the chimney from the fireplace, the WVFR crew could see the canard when they opened the flue, but it wasn't as easy as reaching in to pull it out.
"They attempted to grab the duck and it flew out after several attempts to grab it," Ernst said. "They report that the duck flew out the patio doors and never looked back."
Perhaps a bit sooty, the duck appeared to be uninjured.
While it's not a daily occurrence for WVFR members to be duck fetchers, chimneys are frequently taken to by birds and other critters looking for shelter, Ernst said - they just usually aren't so far down.
"We always warn people: when you haven't used your fireplace for a season, always look up and check if birds have nested in it," he said. "Conceivably, it might have gone in there thinking maybe it was a place to nest and down it went onto the top of the flue."
