A Pacific Palisades Fire evacuee who lost his home in the fierce wildfire on Jan. 7 recently had the opportunity to thank the firefighter who saved his two dogs.
Casey Colvin was working in the city when he learned of the Palisades Fire evacuations last week. He raced back, even renting a bike to get back to his two dogs inside his Pacific Palisades residence.
When he finally arrived five hours later, he couldn’t get past the roadblock. So a firefighter went for him, knocking down the door to his home. Brent Pascua, battalion chief with Cal Fire, was able to rescue one of Colvin’s dogs, but the other, Oreo, was still missing.
The small, white blonde Pomeranian was missing for 5 days when Colvin got a call that Oreo was spotted in the debris and rubble at a neighboring property.
NBC News’ Liz Kreutz was there for the emotional reunion.
Colvin squeaked a toy, and Oreo, visibly spooked, squeezed through the residence’s gate and jumped into Colvin’s arms.
“You’re alive! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God,” Colvin exclaimed as he embraced Oreo.
This week, Colvin reunited with the man who saved his dogs amid the historic California wildfires.
“This guy [Pascua] saved your life. This guy saved your life,” Colvin said with Oreo and Tika Tika Tika in hand. “And you look like a Ken doll!”
Pascua told NBC News that bright moments of hope and gratitude like this amid so much devastation help because there’s been so much negative to process.
“If that dog could talk he would have a story to tell. He would have a national best seller,” Pascua said of the pet rescue.
Colvin said he has never experienced anything like this before and was in the middle of a crisis when he met the firefighter.
“By you leaving the door open, my dogs survived … My dogs would have died if it were not for you,” Colvin told Pascua.