Photo of deer hugging a firefighter near Burns Lake goes viral

A photo of a deer hugging a firefighter near Burns Lake was shared on Facebook and has now gone viral.

Jan Giesbrecht captured the photo when she was driving firefighters to and from the Burns Lake fire camp, across Francois Lake.

“I dropped them off with their trucks. The night crew was getting on to my bus in the south side ferry landing.”

She said the deer was just wandering around and walking up to people, looking for a pet.

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He then came up to her bus and stepped up when the firefighters were getting on. Giesbrecht said the deer followed the bus to the ferry and even rode over to the other side.

The photo was taken on the ferry and has now been shared more than 2,000 times.

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Kevin Skrepnek, B.C.’s chief fire information officer, tells Global News these are structural firefighters staying at the Babine Fire Complex.

Giesbrecht said this deer is not anywhere near the wildfires in the region but he does appear to be very friendly.

“He wanders around visiting people,” she said. “He seems lonely and wants attention.”

She said he was at the ferry landing again on Friday morning.

For Giesbrecht, this deer has been a very frequent sighting this fire season.

She drives the day shift and night shift back and forth every day and will do so until the evacuations in the area are lifted.

“Then I will be able to go back home to my normal life,” she said.