Western Lakes plane crash, dogs adopted by first responders
WALES, Wis. - After a plane crash-landed at Western Lakes Golf Club on Tuesday, Nov. 15, some of the 53 dogs that were on board have found especially fitting homes.
"When she came to me in my arms, I was like, ‘Woah, what’s wrong with this dog?’" said Tony Wasielewski, Lake Country Fire & Rescue deputy chief. "Then she gave a kiss."
From plane rescue to rescue dog, sometimes good luck really does fall right into your lap.
SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News
"I didn’t think of it as rescuing, I thought of it more as me and her had a connection," Wasielewski said.
"They could all be named ‘Lucky,’ every single one of them," said Elle Steitzer, a Lake Country Fire & Rescue firefighter. "Literally fell out of the sky for me."
Tony Wasielewski and wife with Marley
"He just came into my lap and that was it. He’s the one," said Amber Christian, a Lake Country Fire & Rescue firefighter/paramedic.
The flight was a planned transport to Wisconsin, bringing at-risk adoptable dogs from shelters in the southern U.S. Now, three of those dogs have been adopted by emergency responders who were at the crash scene.
"It takes a certain type of heart or person to do this work, and that doesn’t turn off when you go home," Christian said. "Whether that’s caring for people or animals, I took a dog home from a fire I’d been in before, and I was just like – well here we go, number two."
Elle Steitzer with Lucky
Christian said she had been thinking about training a service dog anyway: "I didn’t really plan on this happening now, but it just seemed so perfect after everything he’s been through. Maybe he can help somebody else who might need some support at some point as well."
Steitzer said she's sure she carried the case her new puppy was in after the crash.
"These are coming home with me. We all kind of knew," she said. "Adopting (Lucky) helps me to memorialize the best part of this job, which is getting to make a positive impact in people’s lives."
Amber Christian with Artemis
Wasielewski already had two dogs and wasn't sure about a third. But after he ran into one injured dog twice during the rescue, his wife told him they had to find her.
"She bypassed my wife, ran to me, jumped in kind of my arms, gave me kisses," said Wasielewski.
The dogs may have fallen into these firefighters laps. Most importantly, they were there to catch them.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.
"I started to tear up a bit, I said, ‘Oh boy, I guess we got a dog,’" Wasielewski said.
The three adoptions are only the start. Lake Country Fire & Rescue’s assistant chief told FOX6 News that more members of the team will likely adopt dogs from the crash in the coming days.
If you are interested, several dogs are being made available for adoption at the Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County; adoption hours are Monday-Friday from 1-5 p.m. and weekends from 12-3 p.m.