It was a chance to reunite under much sweeter circumstances.
Milo sat calmly in front of the home that just days earlier was in flames and filled with smoke. He showed no signs of his life threatening experience as he played with the homeowners Fernando and Leticia. At the sight of a blue ball, Milo spun in excitement before playing fetch on the front lawn.
Fernando, Sr. and his wife Leticia and son Fernando, Jr. made t-shirts for Pasadena, Arcadia and Sierra Madre fire department firefighters who responded to a house fire at their Pasadena home saving the family’s 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog Milo who was found unconscious in the fire. Arcadia Fire Department firefighter paramedics saved the dog using a pet oxygen mask. The department carries 6 different sized pet masks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Fernando Sr. plays with his dog Milo, a 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog who was found unconscious last week during a house fire at the family’s Pasadena home, after a press conference on Monday, September 14, 2026. Arcadia Fire Department saved the dog using a pet oxygen mask. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Fernando, Sr. and his wife Leticia and son Fernando, Jr. thank firefighters from Arcadia Fire Department on Monday, September 14, 2026 for saving the family’s 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog Milo who was found unconscious during a fire at their Pasadena home last week. Pasadena and Sierra Madre fire departments also responded to the house fire that began in the home’s master bedroom. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Pasadena Fire Department Battalion Chief Trey Sorenson speaks to the press on Monday, September 14, 2026 after Pasadena, Arcadia and Sierra Madre fire departments responded to a house fire at a Pasadena home where Milo, a 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, was found unconscious during the fire and was saved using a pet oxygen mask by Arcadia firefighters. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Arcadia firefighter paramedic Nick Russell shows the press on Monday, September 14, 2026 the pet oxygen mask he and his partner Brandon Moerke used on Milo, a 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog who was found unconscious last week during a house fire in Pasadena. Arcadia Fire Department carries 6 different sizes of pet oxygen masks on their trucks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Milo, a 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog who was found unconscious last week during a house fire at his family’s Pasadena home, walks among firefighters during a press conference on Monday, September 14, 2026 after Arcadia Fire Department saved him using a pet oxygen mask. Arcadia Fire Department carries six different sizes of pet oxygen masks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Milo, a 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog who was found unconscious last week during a house fire at his family’s Pasadena home, attends a press conference on Monday, September 14, 2026 after Arcadia Fire Department saved him using a pet oxygen mask. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
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Fernando, Sr. and his wife Leticia and son Fernando, Jr. made t-shirts for Pasadena, Arcadia and Sierra Madre fire department firefighters who responded to a house fire at their Pasadena home saving the family’s 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog Milo who was found unconscious in the fire. Arcadia Fire Department firefighter paramedics saved the dog using a pet oxygen mask. The department carries 6 different sized pet masks. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Fernando made t-shirts for all the firefighters emblazoned with a picture of Milo.
“Sometimes we just take it for granted until we come up with a situation like this and we’re so grateful that they’re here, that they love what they do,” Leticia said.
The family declined to provide their last name out of concerns over privacy.
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, around 1:15 p.m. fire crews from the Pasadena, Arcadia and Sierra Madre fire departments responded to the home located on Michillinda Avenue between Sierra Madre and Foothill boulevards.
The home is in Pasadena, but on the border with the two neighboring cities. Firefighters saw smoke coming from the home and had to force entry. Milo was the only one home when crews arrived. Sierra Madre Firefighter Jessica Johnson found him hiding under a table.
Firefighters work on saving an unconscious dog found Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in a burning home on Michillinda Avenue in Pasadena. (Photo courtesy of the Pasadena Fire Department)
The dog is awake and alert after treatment by firefighters Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 on Michillinda Avenue in Pasadena. (Photo courtesy of the Pasadena Fire Department)
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Firefighters work on saving an unconscious dog found Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in a burning home on Michillinda Avenue in Pasadena. (Photo courtesy of the Pasadena Fire Department)
Once outside crews worked to revive an unconscious Milo with an oxygen mask that went over his snout. According to first responders, Milo was up and walking about five minutes after he was rescued from the home. Leticia said Milo is on antibiotics and has another check-up this week.
“We got him about eight minutes into our operation,” Pasadena Fire Department Battalion Chief Trey Sorensen said. “I think if he’s in there any longer I don’t know if the outcome is the same.”
Arcadia Fire Department Captain Drew Pryor said the fire, which started in a back bedroom, was difficult to locate because it had burned into the floor while also sending smoke throughout the house and damaging the attic.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and the family of four remains displaced from the home.
