Puppy Nearly Killed in Fire Becomes Firefighter

When Bill Lindler pulled a 3-week-old pit bull mix puppy from a shed fire, Lindler was unsure the puppy would survive. The puppy suffered burns on 50-75 percent of his body, said Danielle Cromb, the dog’s veterinarian. But slowly, the puppy, named Jake, recovered and it was apparent he would survive. Unfortunately, Jake’s owners never surfaced. He would be an orphan…but not for long.

“What made me decide to adopt Jake was the simple fact of everything that he had been through, ya know, I knew this little guy was going to need a good little loving home,” said Lindler.

“I don’t even think he discussed it with his wife,” joked Cromb. “It was, ‘He’s coming home with me.'”

During his recovery, Jake was on antibiotics that needed to administered throughout the day, so Lindler had little choice but to start bringing Jake with him to the fire department.

“Once I started bringing him all the guys around the station just immediately started taking to him,” said Lindler.

“Even with all the burns, he was just so happy and so friendly,” said firefighter James Durham. “He’s just nice to have around.”

There was only one thing to do: Jake was made an honorary firefighter and official mascot of the Hanahan, South Carolina, fire department.

“[Jake] really makes the job a lot easier,” said Durham, “because we can go out on a real bad call and come back and he’s there and he’s happy to see us and no matter what happens he’s always there.”

“I couldn’t imagine life right now without him,” said Lindler. “He’s become such a huge part of [it].”

Watch Jake’s incredible full story below.