A Rhode Island man and his service dog, Tuukka, are on a mission to help as many people as possible after flames tore through parts of Colorado.
At least one person died, and another remains unaccounted for, due to a fire that scorched a pair of densely populated suburbs between Denver and Boulder in late December.
More than 35,000 people were forced from their homes.
Nearly 1,100 buildings, including mostly houses and some businesses, were destroyed, causing an estimated $513 million in damages – and unimaginable heartache.
“The first few days I was here, people were literally walking around like zombies,” Joe Gemma, who is a retired captain from the West Warwick Police Department, told NBC 10 News during his visit.
“While we’ve been here, we’ve gone to different public areas like the YMCA and the senior center,” he added.