When the Bakersfield Fire Department got a call about an animal trapped in rising floodwaters, they weren’t sure what to expect. When they arrived and saw a tiny head barely poking out of the water, their hearts broke — and they immediately sprang into action.
California received a lot of rain in the early months of 2024, which unfortunately came with a lot of flooding. This little raccoon wasn’t expecting so much water, just like the rest of Californians, and ended up stuck in a storm drain while the water continued to rise around him.
Truck 1 with the Bakersfield Fire Department got plenty of calls to help out during the storm, but only one call to rescue a raccoon in danger of drowning. Still, they treated it with as much urgency and importance as any other call.
The firefighters were able to open up the drain in the sidewalk and use that angle to figure out how the raccoon was stuck and carefully get him free. They found a safe, semi-dry place for him to scurry off to, and he definitely seemed grateful to no longer be hanging on for dear life.
“Some days all you can do is keep your head above water, and some days you just need a little help,” the Bakersfield Fire Department wrote on Facebook.
Firefighters do a lot of good for the community — and animals like this very wet raccoon will always be important members of those communities.