Izzy there? Yes, she was . . .
Two men who hiked for kilometres through Northern California wildfire territory were expecting a grim discovery.
Jack Weaver and his brother-inlaw Patrick Widen walked around police barricades, through a creek and up treacherous hilly roads to spare Weaver’s mother the grim task of recovering the body of the family’s beloved dog Izzy. Katherine Weaver was convinced Izzy died in a ferocious fire that destroyed their Northern California neighbourhood. When the men reached the end of the narrow road, Weaver swore as he saw that the house was completely gone.
But then Izzy came bounding from the rubble. Weaver, who was filming the scene for his parents, captured the reunion on his phone in a video that’s gone viral on Facebook, providing a rare bit of good news. “She was very happy to see us,” Weaver said of Izzy, a 9-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog. “She’s such a brave dog.”
In the frantic race to escape in the middle of the night, the Weavers and many others were forced to leave behind their pets because they couldn’t be found or there was simply no time to get them.
Mobile phone service was sketchy, but Weaver was eventually able to reach his mother, who was staying with relatives. “She just lost it,” Weaver said.
“She went from being devastated about losing her home to the being the happiest person I’ve ever seen. ”