SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The March 13 issue of both the Land Park News and the Pocket News featured a front-page story about a lone turkey roosting on the roof of Sacramento Fire Station 13 at 6135 Gloria Drive. Fire crews on different shifts offered various names: Fred or Tony, but “Frank” stuck.

The story recounted how Frank quickly established his territory at the nearby intersection. Despite the presence of a perfectly good traffic signal, he appointed himself traffic controller. Firefighters inside the station would hear eruptions of honking horns. When they stepped outside, they often found Frank planted squarely in the roadway, cars frozen in every direction.

He had strong opinions about vehicles. Brown UPS trucks and the neighborhood mail carrier ranked high on his list of offenders. No one ever clocked his speed, but Frank could match the posted limit while charging down the center of the street, wings flapping, feathers flying and drivers retreating.

In January, Frank was struck by a car and broke his left wing, ending his rooftop flights. The Station 13 crew made him a bed near the rear door and kept an eye on him. He continued to forage in Reichmuth Park, supplemented by breadcrumbs from firefighters and birdseed from a neighborhood resident who stopped by regularly.

Near the end of February, Frank was attacked by a dog. The last sighting of the now-grounded traffic officer was of him running at full speed away from the station.

Frank had become more than a familiar face; he was a neighborhood legend. 

The story noted that his memory would linger long after the bay doors closed each night. 

In Southland Park, the children and families who came to visit him would not soon forget the warmth, laughter and quiet joy he brought to their lives. 

Many visitors said they were offering prayers for Frank.

Then, exactly one month after the story was published, rumors began to circulate: Frank was alive!

After the dog attack, everyone assumed he couldn’t escape; after all, wild turkeys can fly only about a quarter of a mile. People wondered if it could really be him, and some speculated he may have survived by a “wing and a prayer.”

Station 13 firefighter Eric Pohl said he could hardly believe it. He went for a drive and was thrilled to confirm that Frank was, indeed, alive. 

It brought to mind a famous line often attributed to Mark Twain; one Frank himself might appreciate: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”