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Noroton Heights Fire Department recently rescued a kitten from a tree for a very relieved Darien family. Pixie, left, was reunited with her brother, Franklin, and her family, Heidi and Jordy Davis and their children, Chris, 15, Tim, 13, and Eliza, 8.

Heidi and Jordy Davis are grateful to the Noroton Heights Fire Department, including assistant chief Zach McEwan.

Noroton Heights Fire Department recently rescued a kitten from the tree pictured here.

A small kitten made for some big drama recently in a Darien neighborhood.

In a letter to the editor, Heidi Davis said she and her husband Jordy adopted Pixie and her brother, Franklin, during the pandemic, hoping they would lift the spirits of their children, Chris, 15, Tim, 13, and Eliza, 8.

“These kittens did that and so much more,” she said.

Davis said both cats have been very curious to venture outside, but the family has been cautious.

But Pixie managed to sneak out one early evening. After Pixie got outside, Davis said her daughter Eliza called her to come quickly.

“She said, ‘Mom, Pixie went up the tree!’” Davis said.

Davis said she and her husband saw Pixie in the tree, and said it was clear the 5-month-old kitten couldn’t figure out how to get down.

“She wanted to come down. She was meowing but continuing to go higher,” she said.

The couple got blankets from inside to hold in case Pixie fell, but instead she continued to climb higher. Because it was after 8 p.m., Davis decided to reach out to the experts.

“I called the Noroton Heights Fire Department, and I said, ‘I know this is very cliche, but we have a kitten stuck in a tree,’” Davis said.

The department didn’t hesitate.

“They said, ‘What’s your address — we’ll be right there,’” she said.

Fifteen minutes later, a large fire truck was backing down the private road of Parks Lane. The fire department members sent the ladder up the tree, but the determined kitty backed out of reach. Davis said the sounds of the fire truck probably scared the kitten even further.

The entire operation also provided some neighborhood bonding.

“It was like a 1950s movie. There were 20 people watching — the entire neighborhood,” she said.

The fire department worked different methods for about an hour — six members used various attempts even after Pixie jumped from one branch to another, startling the crowd into unified gasps from the ground.

“By then I was so mad at the cat, I’m surprised they didn’t give up,” Davis said, able to laugh now that the moment was over.

Additionally challenged by the hot temperatures, department members finally succeeded after one member realized he had extendable fishing nets, she said. They were able to trap the kitten in the net and return her safely to the ground. The entire process took about an hour.

The rescue drew a round of applause from the onlookers below. Davis expressed gratitude to the Noroton Heights Fire Department in a letter to the editor and on Tuesday to The Darien Times.

Despite the stubbornness of the kitty and that they were working when it was “a million degrees out,” the department members never gave up, Davis said. She was especially grateful at the outcome, which she said could have been so much worse.

Davis said Pixie was “a little shaken” but was otherwise unharmed.

“She recovered a lot quicker than me. I was a wreck!” Davis said.

As a result of the venture, Pixie and Franklin have some new presents — cat leashes and harnesses — just in case.