Cal Fire San Diego returns 150-lbs tortoise to owners over a month after first went missing

SAN DIEGO — Local firefighters reunited a family with a beloved pet tortoise that had “run” away from home over a month ago after stumbling upon him while doing routine fire mitigation work in East County.

The massive, 150-pound reptile, named “Mr. T,” was discovered by Cal Fire San Diego crews who were completing fuel reduction work near the Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife area.

In a post to Instagram on Saturday, Cal Fire said a fuels crew equipment operator carried Mr. T to one of their trucks, a Dozer Tender 3344. The tortoise was then driven to a nearby fire house, where crews were able to reconnect him with his owners via flyers the family had posted.

“Mr. T’s owners were thrilled to see him again as they have owned him for about 20 years, since the size of a hand,” Cal Fire said in the post. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to reunite him with his family after his slow paced adventure!”

A video of the tortoise in the Cal Fire truck can be found in the player below.

Surprisingly, Cal Fire has had a bit of experience handling tortoise rescues over the years, with a handful of incidents where crews were called after residents — both in San Diego County and throughout the state — came across wayward reptiles.

In 2020, a Cal Fire rescue made national headlines when a 95-pound tortoise, named “Highway Pete,” was picked up by crews with the Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit after he was found injured near Highway 49 in Northern California.