Northern California Fire in the park The disaster forced thousands of people to evacuate. When one resident’s truck broke down in the mad dash to escape, forcing him to leave his vehicle, two dogs and their litter of puppies behind, an emergency responder stepped in to save him.
THE Fire in the park The fire broke out on July 24 after police said a man pushed a burning car into a ravine. The car quickly ignited a blaze that grew into one of the largest wildfires in state history and, within hours of starting, forced thousands of people to evacuate the area north of Sacramento.
It was amid these “frantic” evacuations, police said, that a resident’s truck “became immobilized” while attempting to leave a remote area above Cohasset. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office said the resident was forced to abandon his truck, along with two adult Rottweilers and their puppies. The owner provided responders with the location of the truck, but the fire had already blocked access to it.
But on Sunday, four days after the evacuation, a search and rescue officer named Trevor Skaggs returned to look for them. He was flown to the scene by helicopter.
Butte County Sheriff via Facebook
“After arriving, Trevor ran 1.5 miles to where the puppies and their mother were, but they were tired and thirsty,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the puppies’ father did not survive.”
Skaggs gave the surviving animals water and bites of a protein bar, police said, and managed to convince all of the animals to follow him on the 1.5-mile ride back to the helicopter.
“The puppies and their mother were then flown to the Chico Airport and are now being cared for by members of the North Valley Animal Disaster Group,” the sheriff’s office continued. “These past few days have been horrific for our community and we are grateful to be able to share this incredible story.”
The animal rescue group said on Facebook that the dogs were “presumed lost” after the fire “cut off all land contact with the area,” but even that couldn’t stop Skaggs from committing to the “remarkable rescue.”
“Trevor walked to the truck, released the happy canines and played Pied Piper on the way back to the helicopter for the ride to medical care and the emergency animal shelter,” the group said.
North Valley Animal Disaster Group said it took in 61 animals, including cows and horses, at its large animal shelter and 84 pets at the small animal shelter.
