Written by Laura Christmas 

FLEMING ISLAND, Fla -- Clay County Fire Rescue got a call from a resident in Eagle Harbor with a request our crews can honestly say they've never had before… 

Recently, a storm blew a baby hawk out of its nest in their yard, which caused some injuries. So, the resident called a local wildlife rehab organization to nurse the baby hawk back to health. Fast forward to now - and the baby was ready to go back into the wild, but the resident couldn’t figure out how to get it back into the tree.

In a last-ditch effort, he called CCFR. A crew checked to see if it would be safe for them to help, got a quick education from the organization on how to handle the bird safely and what to do, and used Ladder 20 to get high enough to return the baby bird safely. In the meantime, other crews stepped up to handle any calls that might come in.

Not only were they able to help this baby hawk get back into the wild safely, but they also used this as a basic ladder training refresher for the crew. It's safe to say they didn’t have ‘helping a baby hawk get back to the wild safely’ on their bingo card for this week, but they were so proud to be able to help! Thank you to our resident and his family for saving this baby hawk!