CBS journalist Jonathan Vigliotti rescued three dogs trapped in a Los Angeles home as the Pacific Palisades Wildfire closed in, making it impossible for vehicles to pass nearby roads.
The dogs’ owners, Andrea Pasinetti and his wife Sixuan, were away at the time of the fires. Pasinetti was in San Francisco for work while his wife was overseas.
Unfortunately, the dog sitter that the pair hired wasn’t able to get to their home on time to rescue the animals.
Pasinetti jumped on a plane back to Los Angeles as soon as he learnt about the wildfires. He was desperate to save his dogs who were trapped in the house.
Upon arriving, his friend picked him up from the airport and they rushed back to the Palisades area with fire retardant supplies.
As they made their way to his house, they found themselves unable to get close as many streets and intersections were closed, with police not letting anyone through. Pasinetti recalled the devastating feeling of helplessness as he braced for the worst.
Pasinetti immediately called his wife to ask what they should do. They eventually decided they could either continue to look for a way to reach the family home or search for someone who is already inside the neighborhood.
That’s when they noticed Vigliotti reporting just minutes away from their home near a local high school.
They scrambled to see if they could get in touch with the journalist. Fortunately, one of their friends worked with Vigliotti and was able to get their message across to him and his crew.
Christian Duran, the CBS News producer, subsequently sent Vigliotti and his cameraman to rescue the dogs from the house.
Pasinetti knew it was ‘a tall order’, having to save all three dogs from the house and told Vigliotti, who didn’t have a key, to break whatever he needed to get inside. To make things easier for the rescuer, he also told him his dogs’ favorite hiding places around the house.
Pasinetti noted that the circumstances “were dramatic” as flames surrounded the house. It would eventually burn down just a few hours after they rescued the dogs.
Fortunately, Vigliotti was able to enter the home by breaking the glass of the front door and found all three dogs without too much trouble. He subsequently loaded them into his car and set off to reunite them with their owner.
Pasinetti recalled feeling a mixture of ‘joy, exhaustion, relief and gratitude’ upon receiving Vigliotto’s call that they had successfully rescued all three pups.
While the dogs are safe and reunited with their family, however, Pasinetti and his wife are now dealing with the tragic loss of their Palisades home
