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When should you turn to firefighters for help?

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A cat's paw was caught in a mouse trap in a small town in Changzhou in East China's Jiangsu province, in the afternoon of Jan 21, 2015. [Photo/CRIENGLISH.com]

"Help! The cat's paw is stuck."

According to local media, instead of using pliers to cut the wires in the mousetrap, the residents thought of another solution: calling the firefighters.

The fire station soon dispatched a team of 5 firefighters to rescue the cat although it was not an emergency situation.

After driving for 20 kilometers, the team arrived at the site, to find the mouse trap was only made of regular metal wires.

They then cut the wires with pliers and left the scene.

The round trip took the team over an hour.

The residents later explained that, though they thought of cutting the wires themselves, they were afraid that the animal may hurt them so they decided to call the fire department for help.

The report led to a heated debate on misusing emergency services.

Here are some of the different opinions expressed.

Con: such a waste of time and resources

A resident surnamed Chen held that there should be some clear guidelines for firefighters' responsibilities: "we shouldn't call the fire department for such a minor thing. Think about the gas used on the way! And if there is a fire that breaks out somewhere else at the same time, it will hamper the emergency response."

Another resident surnamed Xu said: "I have seen firefighters using an aerial ladder to save cats and dogs. It is such a waste of labour and money. We saw a cat trapped on a tree and asked firefighters for help. What about animals in the wild? Death is a natural thing and it is a choice made by the nature."

Pro: it shows respect for life

Dog-lover Tang, who established a rescue center for stray dogs with a couple of friends, said: "Animals in distress must be rescued. When saving a life, we should not take its economic values into consideration. That is so materialistic."

But he also thought the residents could have done it themselves without calling the firefighters.

Some Facts

Firefighters in China are indeed very busy, but their work goes beyond just putting out fires.

One part of their job is rescuing animals and fetching things for residents.

For example, according to data released by authorities in Changzhou, firefighters in the city received 26 calls a day on average during the first ten months of last year.

This means the city saw some 50 firefighting trucks carrying 260 firefighters running through the streets every day.

But over 20-percent of the calls were for social assistance cases like opening doors, rescuing animals, destroying hornet's nests etc.

Some 18 percent of calls were for small fires on lawns, which according to firefighters, could be doused with a few buckets of water.

"It is a big waste of time and money when we drive for kilometers to put out a minor fire," said one of the firefighters in Changzhou.

Overall only a quarter of the firefighters' time was spent on putting out fires.

When should we really turn to firefighters for help?

According to the Fire Protection Law in China, firefighters are in charge of major disaster relief and responding to emergencies that threaten people's lives.

So we should call the fire department during a big fire or when our lives are in danger.

But the law does not provide a clear definition of what qualifies as a "major disaster relief and emergencies that threaten people's lives."

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