JACKSON, Wyo. — Jeff Czapor, a volunteer with Teton Village Fire Department and firefighter/EMT with Station 6, saved a cat named Cora from a house with a potential freon leak.
The call and rescue happened yesterday, April 6. Freon is a toxic gas that can leak out of a refrigerator and is dangerous to inhale. The house that experienced the potential leak was currently having a refrigerator replaced.
“Freon is not a common one for us,” says Lizzie Watson, career captain at Station 6 who was in the engine and present for the rescue. According to her, none of the JH Fire/EMS gas monitors can pick up freon, so it’s a difficult possibility to rule out.
While the two individuals in the house were self-transported to St. John’s Health with possible exposure, the cat required a rescue. A team responded to the house and entered in SCBAs, self contained breathing apparatuses. Czapor and his crewmate were able to find the cat under the bed and get her and her cat food outside.
“She didn’t take to me that well,” Czapor says of Cora. “But it’s nice to know we can help people in any way that we can. I know that means a lot for that cat’s owner.”
Cora calmed down after being placed in the arms of the owner’s friend who was on the scene. The friend took Cora home with her.
“As a firefighter I didn’t think I’d ever actually have to rescue a cat,” Czapor says.
Teton County paid and volunteer firefighters from Jackson, Wilson, Hoback and Moran have recently created the Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Foundation to support first responders and better serve and inform the community. In addition to her role at Station 6, Watson is also the Foundation chair.
