Firefighters rescue lost ram, re-home it at their station

GRAHAM, Wash. (KING) - While some firefighters rescue cats stuck in trees, firefighters in Graham, Washington, rescued a ram wandering the streets last week.

For now, they’re keeping it outside the fire department, alongside their pet goats.

“They’re so funny,” Graham Fire and Rescue’s Captain Andrew Kolabis said.

When he’s not putting out fires, Kolabis cares for the station’s two goats, Drip and Torch.

“We don’t have a station dog, so we have a station goat,” he said.

The goats keep the yards surrounding the station trimmed, and they’re popular with tour groups. The firefighters even made them their mascots.

So, last week Graham Fire and Rescue crews felt pretty comfortable rescuing a stray ram.

“Animal control said they could come get it in a few days but they said they’d probably end up putting it down,” Kolabis said. “So he was kind of at a loss for what to do. We’re already set up for animals like that, so it seemed like a pretty natural thing to just grab it, re-home it here and try to find its owner.”

It doesn’t have a name yet since the firefighters don’t want to get too attached if the owner shows up. He does have a couple of tags on him, but it’s not clear who he belongs to.

In the meantime, he’s getting along well with his new girlfriends and the rescue crew.

“Oh yeah, they’re definitely therapy goats,” Kolabis said.

For years, the station has treated the backyard as a place to escape the stress of the job.

“Laughter is the best medicine, I think,” Kolabis said. “So, it’s always fun to come out, if you’re feeling down or have a rough call, you can come out here, and I can just about guarantee within a few minutes of being out here, they’ll be head butting you or looking for treats in your pocket. You end up giggling no matter what’s going on. So that helps.”

Graham Fire and Rescue said they have plenty of space for their animals but wanted it to be made clear it is not a place they want people dropping off their stray animals.