NJ Firefighters 'Rescue' 4-Foot Lizard Sunbathing In Tree

SWEDESBORO, NJ — A New Jersey fire department this weekend was tasked with an animal rescue far more singular than your typical cat stuck in a tree.

On Sunday, Woolwich Fire Company crews were called to a housing development in Swedesboro after a woman called 911 to report a 4-foot-long lizard sunbathing in a tree just outside her front door.

Fire crews, police and animal control worked together to rescue the reptile, which fire officials identified as a monitor lizard, the department’s Facebook post said.

It was "not your ordinary basic animal rescue assignment," fire officials said in the post.

There are dozens of different species of monitor lizards, according to Brittanica.com. One example of a monitor lizard is the Komodo dragon, usually found in Indonesia. The Komodo is also the largest monitor species, growing up to 10 feet in length.

Monitor lizards typically are found in Africa south of the Sahara, through southern and southeastern Asia, in Australia, and on islands in the southwestern Pacific, according to Brittanica.com.

Fire officials did not specify where the lizard may have come from.

According to fire officials, the lizard was transported to a county facility to be taken to a new home.