delight
Firefighters gave a smoke-dazed pigeon oxygen. It flew away.
It could have flown anywhere. It walked toward the sirens.
A pigeon in East Oakland walked up to firefighters on Wednesday evening and, in a manner of speaking, asked for help. The E29 crew of Oakland Firefighters had just handled a vehicle fire when they noticed the bird in distress nearby. It appeared to have inhaled smoke, so the crew did what they would for anyone struggling to breathe. They gave it oxygen. Video of a fireman holding a small mask to the bird has since gone viral. "The bird soon flew away after clearing out its lungs," the Facebook page for Oakland Firefighters Local 55 wrote. Commenters were quick to point out that pigeons were domesticated by humans centuries ago and tend to trust people. "We domesticated pigeons, they come to us for help because we trained them to," wrote Katherine Linville. The pigeon, lungs cleared and dignity intact, went back to being a pigeon.
