A cheeky bear has been caught on camera strolling into a fire station before making off with a firefighter’s gear bag.
The black bear wandered into an open bay before casually grabbing the bag in its mouth and heading back outside.
Fire crews joked the brazen animal appeared ready to take over their duties, quipping that it “said ‘thanks, I’ll take it from here’.”
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Footage shows the bear casually padding through the station before getting hold of the bag and dragging it away, as reported by What’s The Jam.
The bizarre encounter happened at Station 16 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, US, where firefighters were stunned by their unexpected visitor.
The crew shared the footage online alongside a tongue-in-cheek reference to the bear as “Smokey”, although they admitted they could only assume that was its identity.
The animal appeared completely unfazed as it wandered through the station and made off with the firefighting equipment.
Crews later thanked wildlife officials for their advice following the unusual encounter.
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The hilarious clip racked up more than 47,000 views, 912 likes and dozens of comments.
One person wrote: “Bear with him.”
Another user said: “No interview. No background check. Just exercised his right to bear arms, grabbed the gear, and became a fur-st responder. Excellent initiative. Questionable uniform compliance.”
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Someone else said: “Did y’all recover the gear bag? Guess Smokey is a bearguler.”
And one person commented: “There’s been bears around that station since it opened. At least no one was trying to invite them in this time.”
The bizarre encounter came just days after another furry visitor caused a stir in Tennessee.
A baby black bear was filmed trotting straight through a group of bikers outside a hotel in Gatlinburg, weaving between lawn chairs and parked motorcycles before disappearing down a walkway.
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