Firefighters Save Kitten From Dumpster, Family Adopts Him

Taking out the trash turned into a life-saving mission when Firefighter Kristian Roch spotted something moving inside a dumpster at Stoughton's Station 2. What he found would change one tiny life forever.

On September 15, Roch headed back inside to grab his colleague, Firefighter Timothy Guillotte. The two weren't sure what was waiting in the garbage.

"I said, well, you sure it's not a rat or a possum or a raccoon?" Guillotte remembered. They decided to investigate together, with Roch putting on protective gear just in case.

Inside a trash bag, they discovered a tiny kitten. The little survivor was too small to have climbed into the concrete-enclosed dumpster on its own, leading the firefighters to believe someone had placed it there.

Guillotte started recording as Roch carefully lifted the kitten to safety, speaking in a gentle, high-pitched voice. Roch felt a bit embarrassed about his "kitten voice" later, but Guillotte thinks it made the moment even more touching.

The firefighters wrapped their unexpected visitor in a towel and placed it in a safe bin. They knew the kitten needed a home fast.

Sunny's Take

Guillotte's wife stepped up immediately. She's an animal lover whose family owns a farm in Rochester, and they've welcomed many rescued animals over the years.

"So naturally we took it," Guillotte said. His wife named the kitten Meeko after the raccoon character from Pocahontas.

Now Meeko splits time between the Guillotte home and GMEC-EMT, where Guillotte works as a co-owner and Roch serves as an instructor. The little dumpster survivor has become a beloved fixture in both places.

Mrs. Guillotte summed up the rescue perfectly: "Firefighters don't only save cats from trees. They save them from dumpsters, too."

A routine trash run became a rescue mission, and the Guillottes gained a furry family member who might not have survived another day.