A police officer scaled a fence and shielded a dog from heat and fire as he desperately tried to free the animal chained up near a mobile home engulfed in flames.
Arvin Police Officer Adam Calderon was responding to a fire where a mobile home was fully engulfed. Upon learning from the homeowners that their dog was chained up in their backyard, he rushed to save the pet. Knowing time was against him, Calderon immediately ran through the neighbor’s yard and “scaled a six-foot fence and approached the dog, who was visibly shaken up,” the California Arvin Police Department says in a press release.
Calderon’s rescue was caught on his body camera footage which shows him trying several times to unchain the dog but couldn’t release the chain. “Good doggie,” he says, as the video shows huge flames bursting from the mobile home behind them. “I’m trying to get you out.”
The dog is terrified and cowers from Caledron as he works to free him. “I’m trying to save you,” the officer tells the dog. When Calderon realizes he can’t free the dog from the chain he decides to go hunt for a tool.
“As the thick smoke and flames got closer to his back, he shielded the dog with a large cement block while he stepped into the next yard to look for a tool to release the dog and to get a break from the smoke and heat from the flames,” the department statement continues.
He quickly returns with hedge trimmers and reassures the dog. “Sorry doggie, I’m trying,” he says as cuts at the chain with the trimmers.
Thankfully, he manages to break the chain and quickly leads the dog away from the blaze. Both the dog and his rescuer look exhausted from the heat and smoke.
“That was real hot,” he says to the dog once they are in a safe spot. “I told you you could trust me. C’mon, let’s go take you to your owner.”
Caledron returned the dog the relieved family immediately after.
The police department said of Caledron’s efforts, “In review of his body worn camera, it is clear that the flames were right behind him, the smoke was thick, and the heat was intense,” the police department said. “He never thought about giving up and clearly saved that dog’s life.”
Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links.