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Firefighters' rescue of Noelle the cat is 'a Christmas miracle,' owner says

It took firefighters about two hours Thursday to rescue a cat named Noelle that fell into space below an Okemos home's chimney.
Credit: Courtesy of Stacy Greborunis
Fire Capt. Matthew Walters, right, adn two firefighters rescued Thursday a cat named Noelle who found herself trapped below a chimney in an Okemos home.

MERIDIAN CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Meridian Township firefighters were given a strange task Thursday they later found out had a holiday twist. 

A blue cream tortoise shell cat named Noelle found herself stuck inside an underground concrete space below the chimney of her owner's Okemos home. 

"Any hazards, any calls, we go out and investigate," Fire Capt. Matthew Walters said. “The cat decided to go exploring and found a hole.”

Firefighters arrived at the home in the 4200 block of Indian Glen Drive at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday after an employee in the department received a call from the pet's owner seeking advice. 

Blue cream tortoise shell colored cat from Okemos, Mich. required help from four firefighters to get pulled out of chimney cavern.

When firefighters met the owner at her home, they found Noelle stuck in an 8-inch-by-14-inch space at least six feet below the home's chimney. 

They tried all sorts of methods to get her out including fishing poles, laser pointers and a baseball training stick. 

Not even a bucket full of food tied to a rope could do the job, Walters said.

The rescue call was unlike any Walters has had in 23 years on the job.  

"I’ve had a lot of cats caught in trees," Walters said. "This one didn't have an option to crawl out."


A blue cream tortoise shell cat named Noelle was rescued Thursday from a space below a chimney inside an Okemos home. It took firefighters about two hours to lasso the pet out of the cement cavern. (Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Walters)

Nearly out of ideas after two hours of work, Walters and three other firefighters finally found a way. 

They used a plastic dog leash borrowed from an Ingham County Animal Control official to lasso Noelle out of the dark space. 

Firefighters bent the leash, similar in structure to a "slap bracelet toy," into a lasso shape and pulled Noelle out, Stacy Greborunis, the pet's owner, said. 

"It's a Christmas miracle!" Greborunis said of her family's response. "We gave them a cheesecake because that's all I had (in my house) that wasn't touched.

"We are so grateful." 

How did this happen?

Greborunis and firefighters suspect Noelle fell into the space below the chimney after she climbed a stack of boxes in an unfinished portion of the basement and crawled through an opening created for a gas line. 

It took Meridian Township firefighters about two hours Thursday to rescue a cat named Noelle that fell into space below an Okemos home's chimney. (Photo: Photo courtesy of Stacy Greborunis)

If the lasso plan had failed, firefighters intended to start demo work or call on the township's building department to offer its expertise. 

Greborunis and her family called the fire department Thursday after they heard Noelle crying in the basement and suspected she was stuck. 

At that time, that family had not seen her since about 10 p.m. Wednesday.  

Greborunis said Noelle, 3, was born tough.

The family found her Dec. 8, 2015 crying at the doorstep of their home with a wound in her neck and stomach. 

A veterinarian who spayed Noelle a few days later told the family he had also removed an unexpelled fetus. 

"How many lives does she have?" Greborunis said of Noelle's staying power. "She's just one lucky cat." 

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

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