Leo the goat survives Rock Creek wildfire

A volunteer firefighter says he has no idea how a pet goat found in the rubble of a destroyed property managed to survive the raging wildfire in Rock Creek, B.C.

The goat's alive! The goat's alive!- Terry Keough, goat owner

Aaron Pownall says he and other crew members from the Midway Volunteer Fire Department were on a neighbouring property in Rock Creek, putting out a hotspot when they came upon the goat, still in his pen. 

Pownall says the property was almost completely destroyed, but somehow the fire spared Leo the goat.

"It was pretty cool, not exactly what we'd been expecting," says Pownall.

"The pen looked like it had been burned, all the grass and stuff inside, and out walks this goat, fine, you know a little spooked, but yeah it was pretty neat."

Fire crews take a shine to pet goat

Pownall says members of the fire department became very fond of Leo, feeding and watering him twice a day in his pen.

"We nicknamed him 'Goat', (we) didn't know what his name was or anything at the time," he says. 

"It was a pretty miraculous thing that happened there and the guys became pretty attached to it." 

"That goat was something else," he says.

Pownall says the firefighters also found some llamas alive on another burned area near Westbridge, and they have been feeding them hay. 

Surprising reunion caught on camera

Leo's owners, Rock Creek residents Terry and Shannon Keough were allowed to visit their property for the first time on Tuesday.

They knew it had been completely destroyed, and they thought their goat Leo would have been lost in the fire.

They were unaware that fire crews had already found Leo and had been feeding him. 

When they arrived, they were stunned to find Leo still in his pen, alive and well.  

They even captured their moment of surprise in a video, which they shared with CBC News.

"The goat's alive! The goat's alive!" Terry Keough says in the video as they run towards Leo's pen. 

"Leo the Goat! How the hell did you make it through that, man?"

Keough says they rescued the goat years ago, and nicknamed him 'Leo DiCapri-Goat', after he wandered into B.C. across the U.S. border and got tangled in a fence. 

They were thrilled to see him alive in the rubble of their home.

"He came out of the ash and quite upset and quite thirsty and hungry and tail burned but he's OK," Keough told CBC's On The Coast. 

Keough says they had to tie Leo up with an electric cord, because it was all that was left on the property after the fire. 

Animal rescue crews have since picked him up and taken Leo to an animal shelter.

Keough's family, including his two daughters, have been staying in nearby Grand Forks, and are still figuring out what to do next.