Baby Yoda Brings The Force To Firefighters In Oregon And Beyond

A plush toy of Baby Yoda formally known as “The Child” on the “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian” has become an unlikely fixture among firefighting squads across the country.

The doll was originally donated to fire crews in Scappoose, Oregon, by Sasha Tinning and her 5-year-old grandson, Carver, who found it at a local store and decided that firefighters needed it more than him.

“I have always wanted to help and uplift anyone that’s around me,” Carver told news outlet KSAT . “And this really was a bright spot in a dark time I wanted to share with everyone.”

Carver and his grandmother donated Baby Yoda in early September, attaching the doll with a tender note that read: “Thank you firefighters. Here is a friend in case you get lonely.”

Over the course of the last month, Baby Yoda has been passed around, traveling a remarkable road not dissimilar to his space-faring expeditions on Disney+. The doll has appeared at the sites of multiple blazes burning within both California and Oregon including the Lionshead fire, Holiday Farm fire and Riverside fire and posed in photos with Oregon National Guard personnel and members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. On Monday, The Child arrived in Colorado to assist with the Cameron Peak fire in Larimer County.

Since Sept. 15, the adventures of Baby Yoda have been documented on a Facebook page set up by Scappoose resident Tyler Eubanks, who coordinated the donation that gave the alien his new home among firefighters.

The page which had over 24,000 likes as of Tuesday has become the home of images, news articles and TikToks showing Baby Yoda’s popularity.

Commenting on the doll’s appeal among fire crews, Tinning told CNN , “To have a little bit of sunshine during such a dark time ... [is] really special for them.”

Wildfires across California, Oregon and Washington have swept over millions of acres this year, and over 16,600 firefighters have been deployed across California alone to subdue the blazes.