Diamond's Playhouse

Firefighter's Rescue Kittens

It was the purr-fect rescue by the New York City’s Bravest.

A bundle of nine shivering kittens and a mama cat abandoned in a fish tank outside a Coney Island firehouse are fe-line fine this weekend, after being saved by some big-hearted firefighters with a soft spot for animals.

Firefighters at Engine 318 and Ladder 166, known for their heroic Brooklyn water rescues, were returning from a run Sunday when a cacophony of meows alerted them to another hairy situation.

“They were soaking wet and freezing cold,” said Firefighter Giancarlo Andriano, who spied the crying kittens huddled together in the glass tank in a grocery cart parked on the side of the firehouse.

The large black mom was roaming around the nearby Dumpster in the freezing rain. “They were all in pretty bad shape,” he said.

An assembly line of beefy firefighters helped towel dry, clean and feed the hungry cats and used a space heater - and their strong arms - to keep them warm in the firehouse.

The kitties were also beginning to warm their hearts, but sadly, a busy firehouse is no place for 10 feisty felines, said Firefighter Steve Shedd.

Instead, he spent the day working the phones. “People were telling me there’s nothing they could do for us,” he said, noting many shelters and rescue groups said they were filled to capacity due to a massive overpopulation crisis of needy kittens and cats.