(WSVN) - A photojournalist was in the rubble of a fire that broke out in Northern California, but he made an unexpected discovery that changed the lives of a mourning family.
Johnathan Rivas was documenting the destruction flames left behind in Siskiyou County when he heard a strange sound. He noticed a puppy in the ruins.
“Come here buddy,” said Rivas in a video he took on his phone. “Are you okay?”
The lost puppy’s home was burned to the ground.
“Yeah, I heard a yelp in the distance, but I didn’t really know what it was,” said Rivas. “I thought it was an injured deer or one of the wildlife that’s there. All of a sudden this little puppy comes and runs up to me. I was super shocked, just to see that come from the rubble there.”
Rivas was shocked to see the adorable creature among ashes.
“What’s up? What’s your name?”
The journalist was working as he recorded the wreckage of houses and land left behind from the fire.
“I was ready getting ready to leave to go back to Yreka, and I noticed U.S. Forest Service fire officials were starting to cut down some trees,” recalled Rivas. “I wasn’t even supposed to go down that road.”
In the video footage he took, Rivas asked if the dog was hurt.
“He was very excited, he was wagging his tail,” said Rivas. “I am talking to him like I’m talking to my dog, I picked him up, put him in the trunk of my car, gave him some water, and drove probably 35 miles out to Yreka and found a shelter for him.”
Rivas posted the video of the puppy he found on Twitter. He found the family the dog belonged to through that social media post.
“They are going through a lot right now,” said Rivas. “One of the family members basically lost everything. Now the dog is all they have at this point.”
This looks like a family reunion that has risen from the ashes.
“Reuniting it with their family and after hearing their story – it just, it makes me feel good,” said Rivas. “I am just happy, I was at the right place at the right time.”
The wildfire in Nothern California is the largest the state has seen this year.
U.S Forest Service officials said lower temperatures in the area have helped slow the spread of the fire.
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