King County firefighter’s dog injured after hit-and-run crash

KIRO 7 News Staff
·2 min read
1

One of King County’s newest firefighters is spending some extra special time with his family on this Fourth of July holiday.

A day after Kevin Tovar and his family moved here, they were involved in a violent hit-and-run crash. The situation was so bad that their dog escaped the accident only to be hit by a car on Interstate 5.

“She’s devastated. I lost her,” said Tovar. “Our only car is totaled. We have no idea what we’re doing.”

You name the emotion, and this couple has felt it.

The first emotion felt was the shock of the car crash in Federal Way — on Tovar’s second day of firefighter training.

Describing how his car was totaled, Tovar said, “We went fully into the cars in front of us.”

As soon as Tovar and his girlfriend, Stephanie Garcia, realized what had happened, on came emotion number two: panic. Their dog had escaped the wreck and bolted down the street and onto I-5.

Scroll down to continue reading

More news from KIRO 7

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP 

“It was just such a frustrating moment to know that my dog is on the freeway, and there’s nothing I can do,” Garcia said.

In an instant, their car was totaled, and their fur baby was nowhere to be seen.

Then, at their lowest, a total rebound of emotions: Frankie had been found alive.

She had been hit by a car but survived.

“It was just, ‘OK, who cares about this other stuff? Let’s just get into the car. Let’s just go!’”

Frankie has two broken paws and needs surgery, but on this holiday meant for family, Tovar and Garcia feel blessed.

“Just the way the community, the way the department has helped us out, it’s just warming to know that there are really good people out there,” Garcia said.

Anyone who would like to donate to help pay Frankie’s vet bills can do so at this link: https://www.firefightersfoundation.org/donations/.