Josephs brand-new $250,000 fire engine was finally fully outfitted and deemed ready for duty last Thursday, Oct. 18.

The next day the new, state-of-the art, four-wheel drive truck, with fire chief Tom Clevenger and assistant chief Jeff Wecks aboard, responded to its very first call to try to help a cat stuck in a tree at the corner of Russell and Mill streets.

Unfortunately, even using a 24-foot extension ladder the firemen were unable to coax the cat to safety. We left it there, and I suspected it came down on its own when it got too wet and hungry, Clevenger said.

He added with self-deprecating humor, Joseph Fire Department spent one year obtaining the grant and speccing the equipment, along with 1/4 of a million dollars, and our first call is a cat stuck in a tree. That is priceless.