7 December 2016Firefighters rescue adventurous dog from roof of Barrhaven home_ (press release) _ Ottawa Fire Services received a call at 9:05 a.m. from a very concerned neighbour. It appeared as though a dog was on the back roof of a Rowhome on Sorento Street in Barrhaven. Ottawa Fire Dispatch staff gets all kinds of requests and this one was especially perplexing. The question on everyone’s mind was “How did the dog get there?” It appears as though the mixed breed medium sized dog pushed the 2ndstorey window open as the locking mechanism may have malfunctioned. The black and white dog then ventured out onto the 2ndstorey roof and started to bark when it realized the predicament it now found itself in.https://twitter.com/OttFire/status/806170629758193664Ottawa Fire Services fully appreciates that pets are an important part of a family. Therefore our role in an incident like this becomes injury prevention and assistance to ensure pet owners are not putting themselves in danger. A fall can cause severe injuries and firefighters have the safety equipment necessary to perform a rescue from a high place such as a roof. Crews proceeded to the scene with no lights or sirens. In this instance firefighters were able to access the roof as well as enter the home. A crew was on the roof with a pet Lasso Restraint to try to secure the dog. However, the dog was frightened enough by the tool to return closer to the window where firefighters were waiting and they were able to secure the dog. The dog was still fearful and bit his rescuer while being transferred from the roof to the house. The dog rescue was complete at 9:36 a.m. Also, the door to that particular bedroom was closed so the dog could not attempt another rooftop escapade.Firefighters are primarily known to extinguish fires. However, as well as having a number of other specialized teams they, on occasion, also step in to tackle other smaller emergencies such as this one. As members of the community they do their best to help when they can.