A Los Angeles man wept with joy after being reunited with his rescue dog, feared lost in the devastating wildfire sweeping through the city. The video of their reunion has gone viral.
Casey Colvin broke down in tears on Sunday when a dog tracker helped him locate his dog, Oreo, sleeping among the debris of a neighbour’s home in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, site of the largest blaze.
With a squeaky toy in hand and his other dog under his arm, Colvin approached the gate. Oreo sat atop the driveway, grimy but unharmed. Coaxing the dog closer, Colvin embraced him.
“Oh my God! You’re alive! Oh, honey!” Colvin exclaimed, pumping his fist and beside himself with joy.
(Courtesy: LizKreutzNews/X)
NBC News’ Liz Kreutz shared a video of the emotional reunion on X, and it has since racked up 2.5 million views and over 59,000 likes. One X user commented
Kreutz also clarified that Colvin did not leave his dogs behind amid the fire; he was not home when the evacuation order was issued and was “desperately trying to get back home to get them.”
According to NBC News, the search for Oreo began on January 7 when much of Pacific Palisades was ordered to evacuate. Colvin, at work when the alert sounded, spent five hours battling traffic to return home.
“I literally rescued him off the street. They deserve better than that. How do I get to my house?” a distraught Colvin told Kreutz on that day.
A firefighter went to Colvin’s home and retrieved his other dog, Tika Tika Tika. Oreo, however, appeared to have run off.
“Casey told me that hours later his home burned to the ground,” Kreutz said. “Had that firefighter not offered to go get the dogs, both of them would have been trapped inside when the flames came.”
After Oreo escaped, Colvin’s friend spotted the dog and took a picture. Kreutz posted a flyer Colvin created for Oreo and a video of an emotional interview with the owner.
On January 12, Kreutz posted an update. Colvin said Oreo had been spotted twice, once “sleeping in the rubble of a neighbour’s home.” Colvin stopped by his burned residence, leaving food and water. He also enlisted a professional dog trapper.
Colvin’s persistence paid off Sunday, when the dog trapper helped him locate Oreo and bring him home. The reunion marked the end of a harrowing ordeal, leaving Colvin in tears but grateful to have his furry companion back.
The Palisades Fire has scorched nearly 24,000 acres since igniting last Tuesday. Eight of the 24 deaths linked to wildfires in the Los Angeles County region were reported in the Palisades Fire zone, officials said.
One of the catastrophes to befall the US, the Los Angeles wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and displaced over 180,000 residents, officials. The inferno has also separated pets from their owners and forced countless wild animals to flee their habitats.
