By Wendy Sigmund

Firefighter Parker Hill rescued a cat from a burning building on Chief Marks Bingham’s first day as Fire Chief.  Structure fire was called into Ben Lomond on the night of November 2, and because the engine was poised at Chief Kevin McClish’s retirement party the brave boys of Boulder Creek Fire Department were ready for action.  A Cal Fire crew was standing ready in case they were needed in Boulder Creek, allowing the firemen and a grand engine to attend the affair.

When they arrived at the scene they found the house not yet engulfed in flames.  The courageous crew entered the home whose occupants included a number of cats as well as their owners.  Though the firefighters had the cats on their minds, the main focus was to contain the fire and search for human survivors.   Much to their relief, all persons were out of the building. However, no one knew if any cats were trapped inside.

As the crew entered the building they were relieved to find the fire was only in two rooms, a bathroom and a bedroom.  By acting quickly, trusting their training and venting the ceiling they were able to prevent the entire house from being taken.  Instead, damage was contained to the two rooms.  

As Firefighter Parker Hill surveyed the room where the fire may have started, he found a cat lying on the floor, not moving.  Confident the fire was contained, Hill removed the cat from the premises.  

The cat, tattered and covered with soot, was quickly revived when Hill used his SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) to revive it.  He returned the little sooty soul, weathered but no worse for wear to its rightful owner.

Further, the more interesting part of the story was how it played out; not at the structure fire but at the grand celebration of our beloved Chief McClish.  The call came in during McClish’s goodbye speech. As he poked fun back at the people who had been roasting him all night, his speech was interrupted by a shower of pages coming in from the firemen in attendance.  As our brave men exited the party the new Fire Chief Mark Bingham nodded a quick acknowledgement to McClish, with the simple words, “see you chief.” This was after all the first call of McClish’s retirement and he would not be joining them on this one.  

Best of luck to our New Chief Mark Bingham and a heartfelt thank you to Retired Chief Kevin McClish.  We will all be seeing you around. Salute!