On
July 4th at about 11:00 a.m., crew members from
Grand Terrace Station 23 responded to assist
with an animal rescue at Barton Rd. and La
Crosse Ave. in Grand Terrace.
When Captain Abshier and his crew, consisting of
Firefighter Brad Micallef, Firefighter Robert
Stine, and Firefighter Michael Stottlemeyer,
arrived at the scene, they found a Sheriff’s
deputy, a railroad law enforcement officer, and
Linda and Joseph Chalk from Wildlife Rescue,
staring up into a large eucalyptus tree. The
tree was located in a small grove of trees
between La Crosse Ave. and the southbound onramp
to I-215, just south of Barton Rd.
What they were staring at, according to Mr.
Chalk who is a bird of prey specialist, was a
young female barn owl. The owl had become
entangled in fishing line, which in turn, had
become entangled in the tree foliage. The owl
was hanging from its left wing, suspended in
mid-air, about twenty feet from the ground. A
woman from Rialto was driving in the area when
she noticed the suspended owl, which may have
been entangled since the previous night, being
that is when the owls hunt for food.
Using a 24 foot ladder County Fire crews and the
Wildlife Rescue team raised the ladder into the
tree, and Mr. Chalk, using a firefighting tool
known as a ‘pike pole’, reached for the owl and
brought it near the ladder. Mr. Chalk then
grasped the owl and snipped the fishing line.
The rescue was executed flawlessly. Bystanders
even applauded as Mr. Chalk brought the owl down
to the ground. The owl flapped his wings a few
times, but seemed to warm up to his caring
captors immediately. After allowing the fire
crew to pet the owl, Mr. and Mrs. Chalk
explained that they would take the owl back to a
care center to examine it for injuries and make
sure it was not dehydrated. They said it
appeared that there were no major fractures to
the bird’s wing.
"In my 31 years of fire service experience, this
particular call was a situation that I have not
yet experienced" stated Captain Jerry Abshier.
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