Last month, Chris Osterhaus, a firefighter at the Myrtle Beach Fire Department, was conducting a routine equipment check when he heard faint cries coming from near a fire hose. Curious, Osterhaus followed the sound. Examining the area, Osterhaus did a double take — there, piled on top of the hose, were four newborn kittens.

“This was a surprise,” Dana O’Brien, fire department emergency management specialist and public information officer, told The Dodo. “Nothing quite like this has ever happened in our department before!”

Osterhaus quickly alerted the rest of his crew. Everyone was stunned to see the fluffy family. One by one, the crew gingerly removed the kittens from the hose.

Osterhaus, an animal lover, built the kittens a temporary home by arranging comfortable linens inside a box, creating a nest where they were safe and warm.

The fire captain on duty called an animal control officer for backup. Meanwhile, the kittens rested in their box.

In time, the kittens moved to a local animal hospital, where veterinarians checked them for injuries. Grand Strand Humane Society arranged a foster family placement for the babies. Fittingly, one foster parent later revealed that they were a retired firefighter. Soon enough, the kittens were safe and sound in their temporary home.

These days, the kittens — now named Chief, Quint, Smokey and Halligan — are enjoying lots of food, keeping their loving foster parents plenty busy. Once they’re old enough, the kittens will be up for adoption through the humane society.

Out of the fire hose and into a warm bed, it’s clear these plucky little kittens have bright futures ahead of them, all thanks to the many animal lovers willing to lend a hand.