The devastating wildfires in California have killed at least 40 people, injured dozens more and caused millions of dollars worth of damage. Families have been left homeless, and others have been separated from their loved ones — including pets.
For a while, it seemed like Facebook user Beckyjean Widen's parents were among those who had lost a pet in the fire. Widen wrote on Facebook that her parents awoke last week with their house surrounded in flames.
"They had to drive through walls of flames and across a burning wooden bridge to get to mark west springs road and to safety. They lost everything," Widen wrote.
In the scramble to evacuate, the couple's dog, Izzy ran loose and the two were forced to leave the dog behind.
Widen's brother, Jack Weaver and her husband, Patrick Widen were determined to try and find Izzy. After being turned away multiple times by authorities, the pair decided to make a 3-mile hike back to the property to try and find the dog.
As the couple approached the house, they were surrounded by charred and ashy plants with few signs of life.
"There's so much smoke I can't show you the view," one of the men is heard saying in a video.
But to their surprise, Izzy was alive and well. The Bernese Mountain dog can be seen on video bounding toward them as they call her name.
NBC News later reported that although Izzy was covered in ash ands smelled of soot, she was otherwise fine.
Watch Izzy reunite with her family in the video below.
Just a heartwarming story to share in the middle of all this devastation. My parents woke up with flames surrounding their house in wikiup bridgeway and had seconds to get out. In the chaos of trying to escape, my parent's dog Izzy ran from them. My mom couldn't chase after her without risking her own life. They had to drive through walls of flames and across a burning wooden bridge to get to mark west springs road and to safety. They lost everything, but my mom was most devastated about leaving Izzy. My brother and husband were determined to try to get back to my parents property to see if by some miracle Izzy survived. They were turned away by police officers, but if you know my brother Jack or husband Patrick...neither one likes to be told no. They ended up hiking just under 3 miles to my parent's property. This video shows the last part of their hike up to my parent's house. It's a little long, but the ending is worth the watch.
Posted by Beckyjean Widen on Thursday, October 12, 2017
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
