Brave Cat Saves Himself by Jumping from Burning Building [Video]

• Firefighters and onlookers witnessed a brave cat showcase his death-defying agility during a building fire.
• Hennessy the cat decided to save himself from the burning building by bravely jumping from the fifth-story window.
• Hennessy landed safely on the grass and walked off like it was no big deal.

A brave cat showcased his feline agility during a fire at a Chicago apartment building.

The cat’s owner had already evacuated the building when the firefighters spotted the cat in a unit.

They were then surprised when the cat, named Hennessy, saved himself by jumping off the fifth-story window.

The firefighters spotted the cat “sitting on the other side of the door” when they got to the apartment. But he “would not come out,” said Larry Langford, Chicago Fire Department’s director of media affairs.

The cat continued to go deeper inside the apartment. It then went onto the window ledge after the firefighters knocked the windows out for ventilation.

Langford said he was taking video footage of the fire when he spotted the black cat peering out the fifth-story window. He shared how he got nervous, but thought that the cat would just go back inside.

Instead, Hennessy made the daring jump.

Nine lives for a cat that jumped from fire at 65th and Lowe. Cat hit grass bounced and walked away! pic.twitter.com/LRBsjMta2Z— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) May 13, 2021

Luckily, cats’ bodies are designed to survive falls. The fearless expert climbers instinctively know how to align their bodies midair and land safely on their feet.

The BBC explained, “They have a relatively large surface area in proportion to their weight, thus reducing the force at which they hit the pavement. Cats reach terminal velocity, the speed at which the downward tug of gravity is matched by the upward push of wind resistance, at a slow speed compared to large animals like humans and horses.”

Onlookers could see that Hennessy tried to assess the jump first before making it.

Langford recounted, “He put his paws out like he was testing — he actually looked like he was trying to calculate [the fall] and then he just took off. It was surprising.”

Hennessy spread out his legs midair, which created a parachute effect that increased drag resistance. Langford said that “he looked more like a flying squirrel than a cat.”

Onlookers gasped collectively as Hennessy narrowly missed the retaining wall. He then safely landed on the grass with a light bounce.

The brave cat then walked off like it wasn’t a big deal at all!

He didn’t even limp — he was perfectly fine. The incredibly agile cat didn’t need any saving after all.

Source: The Dodo