Rescued Pigeon Befriends Firefighter

A heartwarming story today out of Fresno’s Fire Station 4. Firefighters were wrapping up at a house fire in Central Fresno on Olive and 9th, when something out of the ordinary happen, and our reporter Gaby Rodriguez caught it on camera.

 

A pigeon that had been rescued from inside the home flew onto the shoulder of 30-year veteran firefighter specialist Rob Michaels.

 

"When we first arrived the house was on fire we found a small pigeon that had actually been somewhere in the house that had been overcome by smoke," said Michaels.

 

One of the fire fighters grabbed the pigeon and took him outside, placing him on the home’s fence. Michaels says he stayed there while they fought the fire. After some time he went to check on him and that’s when the bird flew onto his shoulder.

 

"He knew exactly what old fat guy was going to be the most comfortable shoulder to rest on," joked Michaels.

 

But when he tried to take the bird off and put him back on the fence the bird flew right back on to his shoulder.

 

"We bonded. There was a special bond between the pigeon and I for a moment," says Michaels.

 

"Lucky," as Michaels now calls the bird, eventually flew away, but the moment still brought a laugh to a station that is still struggling after seeing one of their own suffer life threatening injuries while on the job.

 

"It wasn’t more than a month ago that we lost our Captain Pete to some serious injuries because of a house fire," said Michaels.

 

This has been a trying year for Station 4 and Fresno’s Fire Department. Any opportunity to lighten the mood is welcome.