If you thought firefighters saving cats from trees was just a fun anecdote, you’d be wrong.

The Vicksburg Fire Department came to the rescue Wednesday at a home on Forrest Street where a family’s cat had been stuck in a tree for nearly 24 hours.

Homeowners Lee and Vicki Abraham said their cat Thunder disappeared Tuesday night.

Lee said it was Wednesday before they realized he had climbed to nearly the top of a tall tree in the backyard, where he apparently became stuck.

“I kept hearing a cat (Tuesday night),” Lee said. “But it was dark and I couldn’t see him. We eventually saw that he was in the tree. I’m thinking something scared him up it, and he just couldn’t get back down. He’d go up a few branches and then come back down to where he had been.”

Thunder braved not just the dark, but also Wednesday’s high winds, Lee said, adding he called Warren County Fire Service Coordinator Jerry Briggs, who reached out to Vicksburg Fire Department.

Wednesday afternoon, in less than an hour, firefighters led by Lt. Nathaniel Nichols were able to reach Thunder and return him to his family.