The whole Fort McMurray wildfire situation is pretty much a frame-for-frame reconstruction of some of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had. Those poor people literally were living next to Gates of Hell with no choice but to leave. Imagine waking up one morning and seeing the forests you used to play in as a kid turned into a raging inferno? Horrible. Now imagine that same situation but now you have to leave your house and new puppy behind. If you literally can’t imagine something so horrible, you’re in luck, you don’t have to because it actually happened. Luckily, a heroic firefighter bro was there to lend a hand.
Via CBC News:
“When the evacuation order came, Stephanie Greene and her family had to flee Fort McMurray without their puppy Max. Unable to return home and retrieve their beloved pet before being forced out of the city by the encroaching flames, all Greene could do was post desperate messages to Facebook, pleading for help from anyone who might be in a position to rescue the dog.
Marty Frost heard that call.
With a background in firefighting, Frost had stayed behind in Fort McMurray to assist in any way he could, and ultimately ended up rescuing dozens of pets stranded in abandoned homes under similar circumstances…But he remembers his search for “Abasand Max,” in particular. Frost said finding the pup was no easy task because of a bizarre numbering pattern on the streets in the city’s Abasand neigbhourhood, which had been hard hit in the early days of the fire.
“The street signs are melted, and all your reference points are gone,” he said. “Nothing looks the same.”
Frost had no luck finding the right house on his first several attempts but didn’t give up, knowing Max was in there somewhere and the sections of Abasand that were still standing remained in harm’s way, if the wind shifted even slightly.
Early Friday morning, Frost heard a block of townhouses in Abasand was starting to catch fire, so he raced back up to the community, thinking only of Max. This time, he managed to find the right house, where he discovered firefighters on scene and one of the patio doors smashed in. He found Max and the family’s pet rabbit, as well — both alive and safe with the first responders on scene.
Meanwhile, Max’s family had nearly lost all hope, after having been separated from their pup for nearly 72 hours…So when Greene’s phone rang at 3 a.m. last Friday, she answered it skeptically. On the other end of the line was Frost, who had found her number on a tag attached to Max’s collar and decided to call her immediately.
“He said, ‘Yeah, I rescued your dog, and I got your rabbit,'” Greene recalled. “But it’s actually probably bittersweet for you, because your house was just starting to catch fire when we rescued him.'”
“I don’t care about the house,” she said. “We got exactly what we wanted.””
MARTY!! MARTY!! MARTY!! It’s guys like Marty that remind me why I don’t mind getting out of bed in the morning. Sure, we live in a world where people blow up buildings for sport and kids think it’s “tight” to wear their pants around their knees, but we also live in world where guys race into burning buildings to rescue puppies because no one else can. If I’m ever caught in a house that’s about to be engulfed in flames, I want guys like Marty kicking my door in. Forget about Batman and Spiderman, give me Marty the dog-lover any day.
Also, here’s a picture of Max the dog playing cards with his owner because how could you not find this adorable?