‘I was just amazed.’ Cat that survived 5-story leap from burning home is still missing, owner says

Chicago Fire Department

Letitia Brown says her cat Hennessy — named after the drink — was always finicky, jumping from couches and chairs in her apartment.

But his latest leap left her amazed.

Hennessy jumped from the fifth-floor window of Brown’s Englewood apartment Thursday to escape a fire, a dive captured in a now-viral video.

“I didn’t think he would clear the whole wall, but they say cats land on all fours. I was just amazed,” Brown said in an interview.

Brown’s furry companion survived the fall but still hasn’t returned home. She and her neighbors have been searching for him since Thursday and hope he returns home soon.

“That’s my baby,” Brown said. “He’s a maniac, very playful and very loving. He loves to play and snuggle. The best cat ever.”

The blaze started in the kitchen of her apartment in the 6500 block of South Lowe Avenue, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. Smoke billowed from windows of the fifth floor of the building, according to video posted to Twitter by Langford.

Screenshot of a video showing a cat leap from a building to escape a fire May 13, 2021, in Englewood.

Hennessy stretches out his paws as he approaches a ledge, jumps from the window and narrowly misses a wall on the way down, the video shows. He appears to bounce off a patch of grass and saunter away.

“That’s just normal, how he is,” Brown said of Hennessy’s jump.

Brown said Hennessy is mostly a house cat who doesn’t spend much time outside. She has had him for nearly three years and is unsure how old he is because she took him in when someone else couldn’t care for him.

“I ended up with a blessing,” Brown said, adding that Hennessy was her main concern when the fire broke out. “But he made it,” she said.

Brown, who is currently staying at a neighbor’s apartment, thinks Hennessy may be hiding near her building. Witnesses said they saw him trying to reenter the building after the fire.

“We’re hoping that he’ll just hear my voice and just run up to me,” she said. “It’s just very stressful. I’m just trying to keep my head up and look for my baby.”