TikTok-famous toucan gets rescued by Arlington Co. firefighters

Thomas Robertson | trobertson@wtop.com
Jessica Kronzer | jkronzer@wtop.com
September 1, 2025, 7:45 PM

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A TikTok-famous toucan was rescued by Arlington County, Virginia, firefighters after getting stuck in a tight space inside his home over the holiday weekend. … In what the Arlington County Fire Department described as an “unusual rescue,” firefighters were called to get the exotic bird out from behind an appliance Sunday.

“Thanks to the quick and careful work of our firefighters, Chester was safely rescued without any injuries,” the fire department wrote in a social media post. “Not your typical call for T105—excellent job by all involved!” … In a post to Chester the Toucan’s 800,000 followers on TikTok, Maria Stagliano said she called firefighters for help retrieving her pet after he got wedged underneath the cabinets in her kitchen.

It all started when Chester fell into Stagliano’s toilet, the pet owner said. … In a rush to wash the toucan clean, he escaped after bath time and went through a hole by the dishwasher that led to a dead space.

That’s where he remained as Stagliano worked to get backup. … Stagliano said firefighters arrived within 8 minutes of her call for help and freed Chester, a chestnut-eared aracari toucan.

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Thomas Robertson
Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.
trobertson@wtop.com

Jessica Kronzer
Jessica Kronzer graduated from James Madison University in May 2021 after studying media and politics. She enjoys covering politics, advocacy and compelling human-interest stories.
jkronzer@wtop.com
@kronzer_news