Northern California’s Park Fire has forced thousands of people to evacuate. When one resident’s truck broke down in the mad dash to escape, forcing them to leave behind both the vehicle, two dogs and their litter of puppies behind, one emergency responder stepped up to save them. 

The Park Fire broke out on July 24 after police said a man pushed a burning car into a gully. The car quickly sparked a blaze that has turned into one of the largest wildfires in state history and that within hours of its ignition forced thousands of people to evacuate the area north of Sacramento. 

It was amid those “frantic” evacuations, police say, that one resident’s truck “became disabled” while they were attempting to leave a remote area above Cohasset. The Butte County Sheriff’s Office said the resident was forced to leave their truck behind – 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 official named Trevor Skaggs went back to look for them. He was flown to the area on a helicopter. 

“After arriving, Trevor ran 1.5 miles to the location and found the puppies and mother alive, but tired and very thirsty,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the puppies’ father was found to have not survived.” 

Skaggs gave the surviving animals water and bites from a protein bar, police said, and was able to get all the animals to follow him on the 1.5-mile trek 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. “It’s been a horrific few days for our community and we are grateful to be able to share this amazing story.” 

The animal rescue group said on Facebook that the dogs had been “presumed lost” after the fire “cut off all ground contact with the region,” but even that couldn’t stop Skaggs from committing to the “remarkable rescue.” 

“Trevor hiked to the truck, released the happy canines, and played pied piper on the way back to the helicopter for the trip to medical care and the emergency animal shelter,” the group said. 

North Valley Animal Disaster Group said that it’s taken in 61 animals, including cows and horses, to its large animal shelter and 84 pets to the small animal shelter.