In 1993, my son-in-law Larry was working a day tour in Ladder 108, which is in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Ladder 108 is quartered with Engine 216 and Battalion 35 in the firehouse on Union Avenue. Not that it has anything to do with the story, but these are three of the premier units on the planet. The firehouse pet - "The Cat" - was a tough ghetto cat who took no crap from anybody or anything.

On this particular 9x6 tour, all the units operated at a fire for about an hour in the morning. The Cat was, as usual, allowed to go anywhere he wanted because, as all the firefighters knew, you didn't mess with The Cat.

Apparently, when the units responded to the fire, The Cat left the firehouse to patrol the front of quarters. Larry said that when they returned to quarters, he waved to a civilian who hung out at the store next to the firehouse. He said that the guy looked like he had seen a ghost. Larry went over to the man and asked him if he was all right. The frightened fellow apparently couldn't speak. All he could do was point at a hole in the sidewalk. After the firefighters calmed him down, the civilian told them what happened. He said that the firehouse cat had chased a rat from the front of the quarters. The rat fled down a hole in the sidewalk next to the firehouse. The cat pursued the rodent and stuck his head down into the hole. While his head was down in the hole, two large rats came up from each of two holes on either side of the large hole. The four rats then proceeded to attack the unsuspecting cat and they literally ripped him to shreds.

The troops were a little skeptical, but when they checked the sidewalk around the hole, they did indeed find what was left of their firehouse protector. The shaken brothers then stretched and charged a 2 1/2" hose line and completely flooded the hole containing the colony of rodents.

None of the ghetto firefighters, including myself, had ever seen rats attack so viciously. My guess is that there were babies down in the hole, and the rats that killed the cat were mothers protecting their young.

A mom is a mom, regardless of how disgusting the species may be (Phil Burns, from his book "... bringing everybody home" - see FDNY bibliography, below, for availability of this book).

Now it's your turn. If you have a story that you'd like to submit, or have an idea for a story please let us know. Send it to: fdnytales@Fire-Police-EMS.com

Thanks, Ira Hoffman