A heartwarming video shared online captured the emotional moment a California dog owner reunited with his beloved pooch.
Casey Colvin was spotted by his neighbor’s gate, speaking affectionately to his dog and inquiring, ‘Hi booboo, how’s the fire?’ as the gray canine hurries down the hill towards him.
As the dog leaps into his arms, Colvin could be seen screaming and crying.
He then runs down the street with his arms raised, cheering on his victory, before breaking down at the gate.
‘Oh thank you Jesus, oh thank you God,’ Colvin cries out.
He had been desperately trying to reach the dog, Oreo, since the Pacific Palisades fire broke out early last week.
When the orders to evacuate were issued, Colvin was away at work. Upon learning of the situation, he spent five long hours navigating through traffic in a frantic effort to reach his residence and rescue his dogs Oreo and Tika Tika Tika, as reported by NBC Los Angeles.
‘I found them on the streets and saved them. They deserve a better fate than this,’ Colvin shared with journalist Liz Kreutz amid tears, his distress evident by his actions of tugging at his hair. ‘How can I make my way back home?’
A nearby firefighter saw the exchange, and offered to reach Colvin’s house to see if he could rescue the dogs for the clearly distressed man.
The firefighter was then able to wrangle Tika Tika Tika, but Oreo had apparently run out of the house and went missing.
Colvin’s home burned down a few hours later, becoming one of the more than 12,300 homes and other structures across Los Angeles County that turned into ash and dust from the infernos.
‘Had that firefighter not offered to go get the dogs, both of them would have been trapped inside when the flames came,’ Kreutz wrote on Instagram.
Colvin spent the next few days posting flyers about Oreo’s disappearance, as Kreutz shared the pooch’s photo on social media.
Several neighbors reported seeing Oreo over that time span, and finally on Sunday, a dog tracker helped Colvin locate the beloved dog.
He was spotted sleeping among the debris and rubble that marked the spot where Colvin’s neighbor’s home once stood.
As of Sunday evening, the Palisades Fire – the largest of the three blazes ripping through Los Angeles – scorched 23,713 acres and was only 13 percent contained.
Yet the Eaton Fire remained the deadliest inferno, taking at least 11 of the 24 deaths attributed to the wildfires.
It had spread to more than 14,000 acres by Sunday, and was 27 percent contained.
Dozens more residents remained unaccounted for, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna has warned the death toll will likely continue to rise as the sheriff’s office starts using cadaver dogs.
‘I don’t expect good news from those,’ he added. ‘We will keep people updated.’
Life-threatening conditions were also expected to continue over the next few days, with a CalFire spokesperson warning that high winds will last from Sunday through Wednesday, which can further spread the deadly flames.
Residents in the areas not yet facing evacuation orders but subject to the Santa Ana winds have now been warned to avoid mowing or trimming their dry grass, parking their cars on grass and to ensure campfires are ‘completely out.’
The conditions have prompted a red flag warning until 6pm Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said authorities won’t consider allowing displaced residents to return home until after that warning has been lifted.
‘Unfortunately, those conversations are not going to begin until the next predicted red flag ends on Wednesday,’ he said.
‘Please rest assured that first thing Thursday, we will start talking about re-population and evacuation order and warning areas,’ he said in a Sunday news conference.
