In recent weeks areas of Australia have suffered from severe bushfires. Many brave people have stepped up to save the local animal populations from devastation.
Like these firemen, who were on the scene to fight a fire but ended up saving a poor animal’s life, too.
Members of the Stanmore Rural Fire Brigade got the call to put out a bushfire north of Brisbane, in an area that had already been devastated by bushfire activity.
They were able to successfully quell the flames. But in the cleanup afterwards, firefighter Michael Tiley heard a peculiar sound: “During the mopping up activity, I heard a noise that sounded like a small child crying,” he wrote on Facebook.
Through the smoke and black ash, Michael discovered what it was: a baby deer!
The deer was on its own and in poor condition due to the fires.
“It was very distressed and overheated, yet I picked it up and we cooled it down with water,” Michael wrote. “It was not injured, yet seemed abandoned, so we placed it in the open storage area behind the truck cab.”
With the fire situation handled, they worked on taking care of the fawn. They got her medical help from a veterinarian, and took in to their firehouse where they fed her formula from a bottle.
After a week, the deer—who they named Ember, fittingly—slowly regained her health, and became something of a mascot for the brigade.
According to 9news, local school kids took a field trip to see the deer at the firehouse.
When she’s recovered, Ember will head to a nearby deer sanctuary.
While there are unfortunately likely more deer like her left on their own after the bushfires, the department still considers saving the poor deer a bright spot in what has been a rough few weeks.
“For our brigade members, it was very satisfying to see something positive come from the utter devastation the fires have caused in the area,” Michael wrote.
We agree—it’s nice to see a hopeful, heartwarming story in the wake of all these ongoing fires. Thank you to these firemen who went above and beyond to care for this baby deer!
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