These touching videos of a dog being rescued from Santa Olga ashes are melting the internet’s heart
By Mohsin Abbas/ Santiago Times Staff
The entire town of Santa Olga has been consumed by flames in Chile as unusually hot, dry weather undermined efforts to combat the worst forest fires in the country’s recent history.
However, in the midst of the devastation affecting the south-central part of the country, two touching videos of a puppy being rescued from the wreckage in the Maule region, have gone viral on social media.
In the video, SAMU personnel can be seen rescuing a puppy that was buried under the debris of a house.
According to a paramedic, the small dog had first degree burns on the first layer of its skin. “This is the least serious injury that could happen,” says the official.
The video also shows how the woman and her partner give first aid to the puppy, cleaning it with serum to relieve his burns and giving him to drink.
This place, located 28 kilometers from Constitución, is one of the saddest postcards of the greatest forest emergency in the country’s history, as on Wednesday night, the fire in a few hours razed more than 1,000 buildings, including schools, nurseries, shops and a post office in Santa Olga, the biggest of several communities to be reduced to ashes in the Maule region, affecting more than 4,000 people.
Most of Santa Olga’s residents were safely evacuated, but rescuers recovered one body from the ruins and two people have been reported missing.