On Saturday 12 September a small fire started in a utility shed in the bone-dry, shimmering heat of Lake County, California. The flames crept across the landscape slowly at first before exploding into a conflagration that burned 50,000 acres in just 24 hours. By the time Cal Fire had the blaze under control, it had consumed 76,000 acres.
It spread so quickly that many communities barely had time to evacuate, with citizens fleeing as their homes burned down in their rear-view mirrors and trees exploded by the side of the road.
Many were forced to leave their animals behind, unable to locate them in the rush to escape. Pets and livestock were forced to fend for themselves in the swirling flames, some surviving in miraculously unburnt homes and barns, while others managed to outrun or shelter from the fire.
As the smoke faded, horses roamed restlessly across the roads, and fire personnel encountered loose turkeys, goats, pigs, cats, dogs and other animals, many of whom were far from home.
Veterinarians with established roots in affected communities, familiar with many of the animals and their owners as long-term clients, knew they would need to move quickly to respond to the needs of the fire’s animal victims. Every lost day increased the risk of death from injuries, dehydration or starvation.
“The first few days were like a scene from Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Really hot, grey, smoky, couldn’t see very far. Poles and electrical wires suspended in mid-air, burning from the bottom like a smoldering crucifix,” said Dr Jeffrey Smith of Middletown animal hospital, who ventured out into the hell of the Valley Fire’s aftermath after coming back early from a veterinary conference.
The veterinarian’s clinic was one of the few structures left standing after the fire – “us and the grocery store” – and his staff members flooded in as the fire burned to swing into action with animal search and rescue, treatment and evacuation.
Joined by veterinarians and vet technicians from across the state, including members of the California Veterinary Medical Association and University of California, Davis, the Middleton clinic found itself at the heart of a rescue effort the likes of which it had never faced before – and hopes to never face again.
It was “sort of otherworldly and scary”, said Smith, describing the scene as teams of rescuers ventured out into the field with emergency services personnel to identify animals in need.
For horses in particular, they needed to establish water sources, because the large animals can develop serious health problems if they go without water for more than a day. Small animals like cats and dogs were burned, frightened, hungry and dehydrated, and they arrived in the clinic in a steady stream, with 15-20 a day showing up, all needing urgent medical attention. Staff members took photographs with identification numbers and uploaded them on Facebook, hoping to reunite them with their owners.
Animals with smoke inhalation, burn injuries and dehydration needed immediate pain management and fluids while clinic staff assessed their condition, sedating them to clean and bandage their wounds. “It was a manpower issue,” Smith said, adding: “I don’t want this to be a story about me. I want it to be a story about everybody that participated here. It’s a huge long list.”
Smith credits his hospital manager with keeping the facility on an even keel, adding that his receptionist, technicians and community volunteers made the scope of their efforts possible as dozens of animals needed daily bandage changes, nutritional support, pain management and more.
While animals flooded into the clinic, straining it to capacity physically and financially – all treatments were provided free of charge – animal rescue groups to the south of the affected area swung into action to provide support.
Wine Country Animal Lovers, a group based in Napa, California, organized at the Calistoga Fairgrounds to coordinate collections of donated supplies, running them up to Lake County while evacuating animals down for distribution to other facilities to make room for incoming patients.
To the north in Lakeport, Dr Chris Holmes at Wasson Memorial veterinary clinic also witnessed a steady stream of fire victims, most from the town of Cobb, also badly injured by the fire. Many of the animals arriving, Holmes observed, were cats, with eerie patterns of burn marks on their feet and faces, while their bodies remained almost entirely untouched.
One cat he treated, “Mr Burns”, became a sort of celebrity thanks to a profile by ABC. The severely burned feline became a symbol of the animal suffering in the wake of the blaze, and received over 40 get well cards.
For Holmes, Mr Burns isn’t just an icon of fire recovery, but a reminder of the dangers of celebrity, too. “What would be nice to see is that the news cycle doesn’t just end next week. It would be nice if everyone knows this is a long process to get through, not just for animals but for the county.”
Lake County, where the poverty rate hovers around 25%, faces an extremely rough recovery from the fire, especially in Middletown. The implications of that poverty rate for animals are a longstanding problem, as Dr Christi Camblor, a veterinarian at Compassion Without Borders, explains. Her organization arrived at the Calistoga Fairgrounds to provide basic care to animals who had never seen a veterinarian before, including animals who hadn’t even received vaccinations. She adds that even as veterinarians in Lake County get their fire-related caseload under control, the issue of access to veterinary care for low-income people will remain a problem.
Some Lake County residents face an El Niño year living in tents and trailers, trying to put their lives back together. Those fortunate enough to be reunited with their pets and livestock in the coming weeks are facing a long road to recovery, and one that may not be at the center of the news cycle once the drama in Lake County has begun to fade.
