[treeswarper]

From today's Lewis County Sirens: CAT SURVIVES TWO-STORY FALL DOWN CHIMNEY • The sound of prancing and pawing on the roof was not reindeer and the one dressed all in fur from his head to his foot who dropped down the chimney was not Santa. Firefighters were called yesterday afternoon to a two-story house on the 300 block of South Gold Street in Centralia, asked to help remove a family pet from inside a chimney. “I was a little hesitant because it was kind of out of the scope of what we normally do,” Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Scott Snyder said. But after talking with the young woman, he knew they could probably help, he said this morning. On Christmas Day, they heard meowing inside the flu, Snyder said. The cat apparently sleeps on top of the chimney and had fallen about 25 feet, he said. The teenage owner of the 9-year-old kitty was ready for them to tear apart the fireplace and chimney, but it was hand built with river rock and volcanic rock, and was something that could not easily be repaired, according to Snyder. “We did a little detective work, dismantled the propane heater fireplace insert, removed some flashing and fished the cat out,” he said. The feline had been resting on a shelf inside the flu, miraculously keeping warm but not succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning as the heater had been run, according to Snyder. The cat was a little sooty, a little scared, but otherwise fine, Snyder said. “He managed to come out in pretty good condition,” he said. “That family was very happy.”