Firefighters take over animal rescue Two adults and their cygnet landed in a short lagoon in Shoebury and found themselves unable to get up speed for take off or clamber back out. Two firefighters wearing specialist "dry suits" plunged into the waist-deep water an coaxed the birds out of the a gate at the end of the pool into the hands of an RSPCA officer who took them to safety. Wildlife ranger Nick Macfarlane, who had called for backup, said: "The effort was absolutely fantastic. Days earlier three fire engines rushed to the aid of a grey squirrel stranded on a tiny island of reeds in a pond in Watford, Hertfordshire. At least six highly trained officers using two ladders coaxed the soggy rodent out of the water.