The owner ran for her life, leaving a mother Rottweiler and her puppies behind in the path of a wildfire that would burn 400,000 acres.
On the night of July 24th, 2024, the Park Fire exploded across Butte County, California, forcing thousands to evacuate. One woman tried to flee with her two adult Rottweilers and their puppies, but her truck became disabled on a remote dirt road near Campbellville. With flames approaching fast, she had no choice. She jumped into another vehicle and left the dogs behind with the windows rolled down, hoping someone could come back for them.
No one could. The fire cut off all ground access for four days.
On Saturday, rescuer Trevor Skaggs and pilot Conner Smith flew a helicopter into the burn zone. Skaggs jumped out and ran 1.5 miles down a steep canyon, descending 1,000 feet through scorched forest. When he reached the truck, he found the mother and four puppies lying in the dirt, dehydrated but alive. The father had not survived.
Skaggs gave them water and bites of his protein bar. Then he started singing. The exhausted dogs perked up and followed him like he was the pied piper. He led them all the way back up the canyon to the waiting helicopter.
One curious puppy climbed into the cockpit for the flight.
The dogs were flown to Chico and reunited with their owner days later. One of the puppies was adopted by a rescue volunteer and named “Skaggs,” after the man who ran into the fire for a family everyone else had given up on.
