Natasha Wallace will go through hell and high water or in this case, wildfires in order to rescue her 4year-old pit bull, Bentley.
The Santa Rosa Junior College student had just finished up studying for school across town from her house last Monday when she started driving home and saw that there was a wildfire heading straight for her house where Bentley was waiting for her. Instead of fleeing the scene, Wallace sped home and picked up the Pittie in her car. As she tried to leave, however, traffic was moving too slowly for them to safely evacuate. Wallace then went back to her house and picked up her bike and a duffel bag.[The fire] was coming faster than I could leave in traffic, so I went back and got my bike,” Wallace told WTVR. “So I grabbed my dog and I told him, ‘Hey man, this is serious, you need to just sit in the bag.’ And he, he hopped right in.”With the 70-pound pit bull curled up in his makeshift sidecar, Wallace then biked for several miles until a man named Paul Johnson spotted the college student and pulled his truck over on the side of the road to offer them a ride to safety. Since Wallace lost everything in the fire, she has since started a GoFundMe page to help her get back on her feet. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, the campaign has already raised $18,000.“I kept thinking I could get my life back to normal alone because asking for help isn’t easy but without the proper insurance that is seemingly difficult,” says Wallace. “Finding a place to live with a bigger dog isn’t cheap but that’s the top priority next to new underwear and soccer cleats.”
The Santa Rosa Junior College student had just finished up studying for school across town from her house last Monday when she started driving home and saw that there was a wildfire heading straight for her house where Bentley was waiting for her. Instead of fleeing the scene, Wallace sped home and picked up the Pittie in her car. As she tried to leave, however, traffic was moving too slowly for them to safely evacuate. Wallace then went back to her house and picked up her bike and a duffel bag.[The fire] was coming faster than I could leave in traffic, so I went back and got my bike,” Wallace told WTVR. “So I grabbed my dog and I told him, ‘Hey man, this is serious, you need to just sit in the bag.’ And he, he hopped right in.”With the 70-pound pit bull curled up in his makeshift sidecar, Wallace then biked for several miles until a man named Paul Johnson spotted the college student and pulled his truck over on the side of the road to offer them a ride to safety. Since Wallace lost everything in the fire, she has since started a GoFundMe page to help her get back on her feet. Thanks to the kindness of strangers, the campaign has already raised $18,000.“I kept thinking I could get my life back to normal alone because asking for help isn’t easy but without the proper insurance that is seemingly difficult,” says Wallace. “Finding a place to live with a bigger dog isn’t cheap but that’s the top priority next to new underwear and soccer cleats.”