Vacaville officer adopts dog she saved from fire

VACAVILLE, Calif.  (KTXL) - A California officer who worked quickly to evacuate dogs from an animal shelter in the fast-moving Nelson Fire says that one of the evacuees took shelter in her heart, and now has found a home.

Just two weeks ago, the fast-moving Nelson Fire threatened Solano County homes and the SPCA shelter. That's when Vacaville Police were called to evacuate 60 dogs and some cats.

In the video you can hear the urgency in Vacaville Officer Carly Stone's voice as she and Officer Jennings, along with animal control and the SPCA, moved quickly to remove all of the animals in less than 12 minutes. 

"We didn't have much time. That fire was coming down that hill," said Officer Stone. 

But amid all the chaos, it was at that very moment when Stone met a little dog named Sean, lifted him out of his cage and outside to the safety of her patrol car. Little did she know, Sean would be more than just a dog she rescued.

"In the moment, I don't think Officer Jennings or I or any of the other people that were there, trying to get them out - animal services, the SPCA employees - I don't think we were really thinking about things, we just knew that we had to move and that we had to move fast," she said. 

Once all of the animals were safe, Stone continued with two big dogs in her back seat. "He was in the front seat,” she said. 

As she began evacuating residents across Peabody Road Stone says, "he kept trying to sit on my lap a lot. I kept having to move him over to the other side."

Then Stone described that fateful moment she got hooked on the two-year-old dog she described as an Ewok from Star Wars.

"I was looking something up on the computer, he came over and he kind of stood up on the center console, and put one of his little paws on my arm or on my hand and kind of looked and wagged his tail.  So I was like, 'you're kind of cute,'" she said. 

Then the very next day, Stone and her wife went to the SPCA to see Sean, who they learned was brought in as a stray the day before the fire. 

No one had claimed him - and once he was free and clear to be adopted - he found his forever home with Officer Stone.