In late March 1996, in Brooklyn, New York, an abandoned garage caught fire. Inside was a stray cat with five kittens who were only four weeks old.
That cat was later named Scarlett. According to firefighters at the scene, she entered the burning building five times, carrying the kittens out one by one, even though she was badly burned herself.
Firefighter David Giannelli, who was at the scene, watched her as she carried the little ones out of the fire. When she had brought out the last one, Scarlett touched each kitten with her nose, as if counting them and making sure they were all there, then she collapsed. Her eyes were blistered shut, her ears and paws were burned, and her fur was singed.
Giannelli took the mother and the kittens to the North Shore Animal League in Port Washington, where vets worked to save them. One of the kittens died a month later from a virus, but the other four recovered and were adopted about three months later.
Scarlett was adopted by Karen Wellen and lived as a house cat until 11 October 2008, when she died at the age of 13. In her honour, the “Scarlett Award for Animal Heroism” was created, an award for animals that perform acts of bravery.
Her story spread around the world because it is simple and human: a mother who did not stop, even when she herself was in danger.