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A cat is rescued by Jaramillo Tree Services in Sacramento\u2019s Boulevard Park neighborhood on Saturday.<\/p>\n
GRAHAM WOMACK<\/p>\n
gwomack@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
Cinder\u2019s bellowing cries could be heard down the block from the cypress tree where he\u2019d gotten himself stuck.<\/p>\n
It was just before noon on Saturday and a crowd of roughly 20 people had gathered on a 22nd Street sidewalk in Boulevard Park.<\/p>\n
The crowd watched as two men from an Oroville-based tree company, Jaramillo Tree Services, worked on the roof of a house, attempting to pull the tree down far enough that one of them could grab Cinder, a gray cat who is about a year old. He had been in the tree since at least Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The risk: If the men lost control of the tree, it could create a literal cat-a-pult.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s terrifying that that might happen,\u201d said Alisha Wiborn, who lives across the street with Cinder, as she stood watching the action.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_0919.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0919.jpg\\"")
A cat is rescued by Jaramillo Tree Services in Sacramento\u2019s Boulevard Park neighborhood on Saturday. GRAHAM WOMACK gwomack@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
The dramatic scene that unfolded was a show of quick thinking, community spirit and what it can take to get a cat down from a tree.<\/p>\n
How the cat got stuck in the tree<\/p>\n
Wiborn said she didn\u2019t know how Cinder, who is an indoor cat, got out. Nor did she know when he made his way up the tree, which is approximately 30 feet tall.<\/p>\n
She realized something was amiss when she returned home around 3:30 p.m. Friday when she returned from her job as a yard duty at Washington Elementary School. She recognized Cinder\u2019s voice, coming from the direction of a neighboring house across the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard him crying and I followed the sound of his cries,\u201d Wiborn said. \u201cI thought maybe he was lost in their front yard and I look up, and he\u2019s in the tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
She immediately called the city, though a quick rescue wasn\u2019t in the cards. Sacramento City Councilman Phil Pluckebaum explained why this was in a phone interview on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we all know the image of a firefighter rescuing a kitten, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s been a standard municipal practice in a long time,\u201d Pluckebaum said.<\/p>\n
![\"Ana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_0949.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0949.jpg\\"")
Ana Ochoa of Jaramillo Tree Services, which helped rescue a cat stranded high in a cypress in Sacramento\u2019s Boulevard Park neighborhood, on Saturday. GRAHAM WOMACK gwomack@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
Wiborn said she called a non-emergency line, speaking with both police and fire personnel and that she was told nothing could be done. She let her husband Ronnie Barnes know what was going on, and he called animal control. Later on Friday evening, Barnes was able to get Engine 2 from the Sacramento Fire Department to come out, Wiborn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey pretty much laughed at me and said there\u2019s nothing they can do, leave a bowl of food, which I did and the raccoons ate it,\u201d Wiborn said.<\/p>\n
Fire spokesperson Justin Sylvia did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Ryan Hinderman, a spokesperson for the city\u2019s Front Street Animal Shelter, said he couldn\u2019t speak for the fire department but that animal control generally avoids rescuing cats from trees as they will generally climb down on their own and trying to get them down sooner can scare them or create the risk of injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a cat was up in a tree for a really prolonged period of time, where it started to become like a health or safety risk for the cat, we might get involved to coordinate something,\u201d Hinderman said. \u201cBut typically, if it\u2019s someone\u2019s owned cat, they\u2019re responsible for their pets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Megan Martens, who lives by the tree where Cinder found himself, wasn\u2019t pleased with how the city handled the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just kind of an interesting thing about if we don\u2019t have those services anymore, whose job is it to tell us that we don\u2019t have those services?\u201d Martens said.<\/p>\n
What happened on Saturday morning<\/p>\n
Cinder\u2019s family, which includes children Everett Barnes, 9 and Penelope Barnes, 7, experienced a tense night Friday.<\/p>\n
Barnes headed out early Saturday morning to his job at Freeport Bakery in Land Park, running on about two hours of sleep and avoiding Cinder\u2019s yowling. \u201cI heard him yell, and I was like, \u2018I can\u2019t miss work,\u2019\u201d said Barnes, his eyes bloodshot.<\/p>\n
Wiborn began calling arborists on Saturday morning. Several declined to take the job due to liability concerns, Wiborn said, before she located a company from Oroville, Jaramillo Tree Services, that happened to be in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me they can\u2019t promise anything, but they will at least give it a shot to try to get him out of the tree,\u201d Wiborn said.<\/p>\n
Alissa King, who parked nearby with her roommate to visit the Midtown Farmer\u2019s Market, heard a cat meowing and began to look for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got invested,\u201d King said. \u201cWe just wanted to make sure the cat was okay. I have a cat, so I\u2019m like wanting to make sure he\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Alisha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_0920.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0920.jpg\\"")
Alisha Wiborn cheers as her cat is rescued by Jaramillo Tree Services in Sacramento\u2019s Boulevard Park neighborhood on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026. GRAHAM WOMACK gwomack@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
Shortly before noon, the two men atop the roof from Jaramillo Tree Services were able to finally get hold of Cinder.<\/p>\n
A big cheer erupted from the people on the street below. Cinder was brought down a ladder to his waiting family. Wiborn put both hands in the air. She then hugged a neighbor who had helped to raise awareness about the situation and also helped to pay the $160 cost of the cat rescue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing is the kitty is fine,\u201d said Ana Ochoa, a representative for Jaramillo Tree Services.<\/p>\n
King marvelled at what happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really gives you like a sense of community because all these people, every single neighbor is out here, people are stopping on their way back from the farmers market,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n
Penelope Barnes knew what she was going to do as soon as she got inside her house to see Cinder.<\/p>\n
\u201cPick him up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Alisha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789347613_43_IMG_0948.jpg\" "\\"IMG_0948.jpg\\"")
Alisha Wiborn, her husband Ronnie Barnes and their children Everett Barnes, 9, and Penelope Barnes, 7, spend time with their cat Cinder after he was rescued in Sacramento\u2019s Boulevard Park neighborhood on Saturday. GRAHAM WOMACK gwomack@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789347615_409_SAC_4089_GrahamWomack_HA_250908.jpg\")