Albertville Public library caught fire Wednesday night after a lightning strike. But the good news is that Max, the library’s beloved cat, escaped safely with the help of first responders.

The library, called a “cornerstone of the community”, caught fire during the severe storms that swept through Alabama Wednesday. The city said it is still assessing the damage and the library is closed until further notice.

But Max escaped and was found safe by the fire department.

“We are so thankful for our community for all the prayers and thoughts,” the library said in a Facebook post. “Max, our library cat was found and is safe. We are so grateful for our first responders who not only put out the fire, but got Max out as well.”

One of the well wishers was Anniston’s library cat, Dewey, who said in a post “I am very happy to say that first responders were able to locate Max and get him out safely. I’m sure he was very scared – I certainly would be! Please send him good wishes because he may be away from his ‘home’ for a while.”

Albertville’s other library animals, Stefan, the bearded dragon, and Keegan, the ball python, were not at the library at the time.

According to a Facebook comment by the person currently caring for Max and the other library animals, the beloved cat is “rattled” but eating, purring and breathing fine.

“He definitely misses everyone at the library, though,” the post said.