When Firefighters Are Called To Fix A Recliner

MARLBOROUGH, MA—A cat stuck in a tree. A car stuck on a pond. A recliner stuck in the upright position. Marlborough firefighters do a lot more than fight fires, and have responded to issues that most would never suspect would make it on the call log.

Such is the case with the recliner stuck in the upright position.

Twenty years ago, when Darlene Joyal's baby son got stuck between the footrest and the seat of a recliner, he had a diaper on that wedged in and every time she tried to pull him up, the recliner came up with him, and he cried. Joyal called the Marlborough Fire Department, and they came over and got the diapered baby out of there.

Now, Joyal on a Marlborough community Facebook page recently gave props to three Marlborough firefighters, who came to the home of her mother to fix a chair.

"She is 103, on oxygen at night and sleeps in her recliner," wrote Joyal. "It got stuck upright and would not go down. They took out some of the mechanisms so it would at least sit upright. This is not in their job description but they took the time to at least make it work temporarily. Cannot thank them enough!"

Joyal's mother lives in the assisting living facility across from the fire station on Pleasant Street.

"I did not know what to do so I walked across the street," Joyal told Patch, "rang the bell and explained to them what happened. I did not want to call 911 because it was not really an emergency. But, I knew I did not want her to spend the night in her wheelchair (she sleeps in her recliner) and I knew she would not come home with me. So, they came to her apartment and took some pins out so it would at least go down. I was glad for that because it was 9 p.m. on a Saturday night and I did not know what the heck I was going to do."

Photo via Marlborough Fire Department