California’s Wildfires Devastate Communities & Ranches

The Valley wildfire, fueled by drought conditions, has leveled whole sections of small towns in northern California. Residents and communities are coming together to help those displaced by the fires — both human and animal.

The American West has seen an already-intense wildfire season, fueled by years of drought and prime conditions for fast-spreading fires that are difficult to contain. California in particular has been hard hit — but the Valley fire, which roared quickly to life about 90 miles north of San Francisco, set new and terrifying standards for what Mother Nature is capable of unleashing. As of Tuesday, September 15 at 6:45 AM Pacific time, 67,000 acres have burned with only 15% contained, 13,000 people have been displaced and 585 homes have been destroyed. There has been one reported death. (See more statistics here.)

The fire was first spotted on Saturday, September 12; the cause of the fire is still unknown. Extremely high temperatures from the previous week helped further dry out trees suffering from the multi-year drought; when temperatures dropped over the weekend, winds picked up which helped to fan the flames. The wildfire traveled at what was described as “astonishing speed,” with dry trees sending ash embers a quarter- to a half-mile away, making containment almost impossible. Fire spread quickly through small rural communities in Lake County, such as Middletown, which has been nearly wiped off the map. With only minutes to evacuate as the fire roared through town, many residents were forced to turn their pets and livestock loose, hoping they would fend for themselves.

And amazingly, many of them did: while there reports of dead livestock and horses in many of the fire-ravaged areas, there are plenty of stories on news sites and social media of residents returning home in declared safe zones to find their dogs, cats, horses and more waiting patiently for their people. One such story describes a family returning home to their ranch to find the dog they had been forced to abandon hanging out at the unburnt house, while firefighters helped round up his alpacas and feed them hay. Various animal rescue groups, working with volunteers and local feed stores, are trucking in hay and helping to gather loose-roaming animals. Some communities, like most of Middletown, are still closed to residents as conditions are too dangerous, so many owners still don’t know if their animals survived the fire or not.

Many temporary disaster shelters have been totally overwhelmed with donations, both for pets and people, and have requested that further donations be channeled through the Red Cross who can distribute them where most needed. Social media has responded in kind with multitudes of lost-and-found pet groups sharing photos and messages.

If you’d like to help victims of the Valley fire, are located nearby and can offer assistance, or want to offer a message of support:

• Visit the Red Cross website to make donations
• Follow the PET Lost and Found for Lake County Fires Facebook page (this page also includes links to other similar Facebook groups)
• Follow Napa Valley Equine on Facebook for details about ongoing animal rescue efforts in fire areas
• If you are located in northern California and can offer space in your barn or pasture, or can help trailer evacuated horses, see the Lake County Horse Council website for details

Here are some of the scenes from around the Valley fire via Instagram:

Special thanks to Halle Teague for collecting donation links.