BIDDEFORD — When the walls are meowing, something’s amiss.

Thankfully, that was evident to a concerned Biddeford resident who on Wednesday night reported hearing “cats crying” in a vacant building on Windsor Lane. The resident contacted the building’s owner, Carl Brooks, who then called the Biddeford Fire Department, BFD Lt. Justin Cooper said Friday.

“A mamma cat had taken refuge in the building and had a brand new litter of kittens,” he said. Cooper said the building was scheduled to be demolished because it was the site of a structure fire last year.

When Cooper and another firefighter responded to the call, they discovered one of the cat’s four kittens was trapped in between the walls. It had fallen approximately 16 feet from a hole in the wall to the nook it was trapped in, said Cooper.

“There was no way for the kitten to move or get out of there,” he said.

The firefighters used thermal imaging cameras, which detect body heat, to locate the kitten in distress, said Cooper, before tearing into the wall to pull it out.

Although they’re relatively sparse, Cooper said he’s responded to similar calls in the past. “(Animals) certainly get themselves stuck in difficult situations,” he said. “And whenever people don’t know what to do they usually end up calling us.”

Brooks could not be contacted by press time.

In various Facebook posts this week, he said he took the rescued kitten, a 3-week-old girl, to a veterinarian’s office in Scarborough, and she’s doing fine now. Brooks added that his friend is currently caring for her, while he’s looking after the cat and her three other kittens.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].