Connor Goetzinger may be new to the West Allis Fire Department.”I just hit my six-month mark two shifts ago!” he told 12 News Friday. But he already has a story that’ll last his whole career. He was on duty Saturday alongside Battalion Chief Michael Wright, who had to run to the mechanic. Wright said he was leaving the firehouse when he came outside and noticed a car pulling up into the station, and the driver had a concerned look on his face.”I could tell he was walking towards us, and he was going to ask me a question or a favor or something,” Wright said. “When he came up to me, he was like, ‘Hey, I got my snake up in the car. Can you help me get my snake out?’”Wright said the man’s snake escaped out of a container in his car and slithered up inside the passenger seat. The fire station turned to its rookie to respond. “‘I’m like, ‘yeah, I’m totally fine with snakes,’” Goetzinger said. “Are you?” 12 News Hannah Hilyard asked. “No! No, I lied,” he said.”Masking his true feelings, Goetzinger went to his engine and grabbed a vehicle access tool to coax the snake out. “We kind of used it to tickle the snake and not irritate it but give it some motivation to move,” he said. To the pet owner’s delight, it worked. Right after, Goetzinger posed with the rescued serpent. “I definitely lost my big fear,” he said. I wouldn’t hang out with them, but if I had to grab a snake again, as long as it’s not venomous, I’d feel probably OK doing it,” he said. Wright does not recommend others use the fire department to help rescue snakes. “It’s normally something that we don’t do,” he said. “We’d rather have the handler of the snake try to retrieve the snake or contact some animal control number or website to assist.”