Firefighter strips off uniform and jumps in bay to save senior dog from drowning

There’s some jobs that are predictable, like an office job. You go in to the office, sit at your desk, work at a computer until the end of the day, and then go home. There’s very little variation in your day.

But then there’s firefighters. One day you might pull someone from a burning building, another day you might help extinguish a car fire, and yet another day you may find yourself jumping into the water to rescue a drowning senior dog.

In July 2017, Miami Beach Fire Rescue received a call about an animal in Biscayne Bay.

“We see a dog about 25 yards out,” rookie firefighter Emilio Sanchez told WSVN. “He was really excited to see me.”

Sanchez jumped in the water and was able to grab ahold of Junior, a 12-year-old Chinese Shar Pei-Rottweiler mix. The two swam to a dock where Sanchez’s crew were waiting with a backboard to help Junior get out of the water.

Although it looked like Sanchez and Junior bonded over their dip in the water together, the firefighters were on a mission to reunite the 12-year-old dog with his owner.

Within an hour Junior was back in the arms of his owner, Jose Ruiz.

While it might not have been a typical day in the life for Sanchez, he said it was all part of the job.

“Any life is important in the eyes of the fire department here,” he said. “It’s all in the line of duty.”

Thank you, Emilio Sanchez for jumping in the water and saving Junior!

Share this if you wish there were more compassionate people like Emilio.