Firefighters and neighbors mobilized to rescue the dog, which was trapped in its owner’s house on fire. For firefighters, his survival is nothing more or less than a miracle.
A Labrador retriever named Apollo miraculously survived a fire at his family’s home.
The incident took place on the afternoon of Saturday, August 20, in Lower Debert, Nova Scotia (Eastern Canada), when temperatures reached 30°C that day.
The dog was alone at home. His owners came out, and it was the neighbors who saw the smoke rising from the house and called for help.
Firefighters from the Onslow Belmont Brigade soon arrived on the scene. The house was almost completely on fire. While some tried to put out the flames, others combed the house in search of people who could be evacuated. One of them, Derek Richard, was walking from room to room when, upon entering the kitchen, he saw Apollo lying on the floor.
“He lifted his head and tried to sit up,” says the firefighter. The latter carried it, and then entrusted it to a colleague who undertook to take him out.
Derek Richard kept searching until he ran out of oxygen. Going out into the street, and while the house was completely on fire, he saw how rescuers and neighbors together rescue the animal, which was doused with water and provided first aid.
«It’s a miracle that this dog is still alive,» the firefighter said, adding that the dog is easy to take care of. It was as if he resigned himself to his fate before seeing the help he no longer dared to hope for.
«I’m so glad he’s doing well,» continues Derek Richard, who knows what it’s like to lose your dog. «She was my best friend,» he says of his late dog Bella, who died a few months earlier. You know, anyone who has had a dog will tell you that.”
Meanwhile, back at home, Apollo’s owners took him to the vet. Their home is almost completely destroyed, but their beloved Labrador remains unscathed.
