A California firefighter has hearts in a flutter after a cat he rescued near the site of the Paradise wildfire refused to let go of him.
Ryan Coleman, Engine Captain at Fairview Valley Fire Department, shared a video of the encounter last Tuesday in a post on Facebook.
He told followers the feline wouldn’t let go of him while he carried out his job in the forest area so he continued with the animal clinging to his body.
Ryan Coleman shared pictures and a video of the cat encounter last Tuesday
The Engine Captain at Fairview Valley Fire Department posted on Facebook
He told followers the feline wouldn’t let go of him while he carried out his job
‘Kitty rescue. She just chilled on my neck and shoulders as I’d walk around,’ he captioned the post of images and a video.
In the heart-warming clip Coleman laughs as he says: ‘Let’s go for a walk. Where are we going? We’re walking around.’
In the video his gray furry friend seems to be in such a delightful position she could almost purr with delight.
And a smiling Coleman seems pretty happy too.
He posted shots of the creature nuzzling into his chest and neck and clawing up his knee to stay close in the aftermath of losing the area and people she once knew.
By Monday the post had been shared approximately 33,000 times and the video viewed around 1.7 million times.
By Monday the animal lover’s post had been shared approximately 33,000 times
Commenters urged the firefighter to take the cat home but he shared he was still in the area working on the devastation
Commenters urged the firefighter to take her home.
‘You obviously have to keep her if nobody claims her, she loves you!’ one wrote.
‘I wish. I’m still out here,’ he responded to another.
Just a few days earlier he posted about the devastation of the blazes that had reduced an entire town to ashes.
‘On scene of the Camp Fire, and starting shift #1. My heart and prayers go out to the more than 2,000 families that lost their homes and all the people that lost loved ones,’ he wrote. ‘Hoping for the safety of my crew and fellow firefighters. I’m excited to be here helping out, and I’m ready to get started doing what we do!’
Coleman is clearly an animal lover.
A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, California on November 8
Coleman worked as the number of missing people was on the rise after the blaze broke out November 8. Butte County reduced the number on its missing persons list to 993 Sunday
However the death toll in the forest area remained at 77 as brave firefighters worked the wreckage
His social media account boasts pictures of himself with dogs and even a baby goat too.
The latest official death toll was announced late on Sunday as the Butte County Sheriff’s Office also said it was reducing the number of names on its missing persons list to 993, down from 1,276 a day earlier.
At least 77 people have been killed.
As of Monday, the fire had torched 151,000 acres (61,107 hectares) of drought-parched scrub and trees, incinerating more than 9,800 homes along the way, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.