Therapy Dogs Bring Moments of Peace to Firefighters Battling California's Caldor Fire

first responder therapy dog
first responder therapy dog

gofundme

Heroes need comfort too, and First Responder Therapy Dogs is here to deliver it.

First Responder Therapy Dogs, founded by Marin, California, resident Heidi Carman, is a nonprofit project designed to safely bring trained therapy dogs to first responders when additional emotional support is crucial.

The canines of First Responder Therapy Dogs have recently been visiting the Caldor Fire base camp to comfort the firefighters battling the California wildfire now nearing Lake Tahoe. Carman shared photos on Facebook of First Responder Therapy Dogs' latest visit to the camp, where therapy dog Kerith brought smiles and love to firefighters.

The nonprofit organization is currently raising funds needed to visit more wildfire base camps. First Responder Therapy Dogs started a GoFundMe to help with the effort and has received over $1,500 of their $5,000 goal.

"We are experiencing an unprecedented wildfire season. Today there are 14,288 personnel battling 12 active large wildfires that in total have burned 1,625,501 acres. Our firefighters depend on the love and comfort our therapy dogs bring them at wildfire base camps. You can help the brave men and women fighting our fires by making a donation that will send a therapy dog team to base camp," Carman wrote on the fundraiser's page.

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"First Responder Therapy Dogs are trained and certified dogs who bring much-needed comfort to our wildfire firefighters. Your donations help our dog handlers to be able to drop everything and deploy to base camps around California. The money covers travel and hotel costs for the teams. Thank you for helping us help the heroes," she added.

To contribute to First Responder Therapy Dogs' work, visit their GoFundMe page. To learn more about the nonprofit organization, go to https://firstrespondertherapydogs.org/.