RICHMOND, Va. -- Walking along the grass of Richmond's Abner Clay Park takes Brandon Bullock back to February 10, 2019.
"I haven't been back here since. We deal with a whole lot but that was different," Bullock said.
On that fateful February night, he, Michael Tedesco and other firefighters across the street at Fire Station 5 got a dispatch call reporting that a dog was on fire.
That dog was a brindle pitbull named Tommie who had been tied to a pole and set on fire.
"He worked his way over onto Leigh Street and that's where we ended up getting him," Tedesco said.
Tedesco said that night, he didn't think Tommie's condition was too bad. As the owner of two dogs, he thought he could bring the injured dog into his home.
"The thought, it crossed my mind though, if you were to come available for adoption," Tedesco said.
Despite the best efforts of the veterinary staff, Tommie would die of his injuries five days later. Even though he died, Tommie's story and impact weren't done as they drew worldwide attention, including gifts and visitors to the fire station.
"I think we had a few people sit down and eat meals with us. Yeah, so it was just awesome to see the community come together like that," Tedesco said.
Tommie's death also led to changes to Virginia's animal cruelty law, a Team Tommie license plate and the creation of the Tommie Fund, run by Richmond Animal Care and Control, which helps other shelters with medical emergency bills.
"We started with a dream of trying to save this wonderful dog and it's turned into a bigger dream that I don't even think we've come to realize yet," Christie Chipps Peters with Richmond Animal Care and Control said.
Last year alone, the shelter gave out over $100,000 in aid among the 22 shelters in the program. They hope to expand the fund across Virginia.
"That really is our goal, is to just keep growing and keep saving more lives in Tommie's honor," Peters said.
For Bullock and Tedesco, knowing that Tommie continues to do good in a world he's no longer in is a great thing.
"Just happy to see that they're continuing all that and putting these dogs up for adoption, making sure they find homes," Tedesco said.
