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UPDATES/STORIES

10-29-07
As of Friday evening, Oct. 26,2007, my husband, my Jack Russell, & I are still evacuees from Pauma Valley as a result of the Poomacho fire. We received the reverse 911 call at 4:30 am Tuesday morning. I was able to get my Thoroughbred, Quarter Pony, & Welsh Pony Stallion out safely as well. I wanted to give special thanks to Susie Hutchinson who was leaving for Europe, yet had time to make sure I was able to get my equines into Endar Equine. I also wanted to give special thanks to everyone at Endar (especially Marybeth, Marilyn, & JK), as they have welcomed us with open arms and have made my equines' stay very comfortable. It has been a huge help as well as a huge relief to know my ponies are being taken care of so well. Thanks for everything!
Carla Burrus
CB Realty
760-505-2487 Mobile
877-532-2487 Toll Free
www.horseproperty4u.com

10-29-07
Kim Lenahan of Shady Tree Training Stables - A recount of her ordeal with the fires

10-28-07
A long-time ranch and boarding facility was lost during the fires.
Buena Brisa Farm, owned for many years by Berta and Gordon West and home for daughter Kate West's training facility lost their house, barns, hay barn, and apartment during the fires. All horses and other animals were safely evacuated.
Our hearts and thoughts go out to the West family.

Sandy Arledge Qtr Horses, Inc
San Diego, CA
(619) 992-4677

10-28-07
Hello all -

All of the horses are finally home! And they are SO happy to be back home in their large corrals. They have done well and none has gotten sick or colicky throughout all of this.

We cannot thank Diandra enough - she has been helping us with the horses non-stop since Monday. If anyone would like to tip a helper, she has incurred enormous costs on her cell phone as well as gas for her car, driving up to help me with the 14 horses in Temecula. We had to purchase water tubs, a hose, and also we had to feed the 10 horses at CRC Ranch, water them three times/day, exercise, bathe, turnout, fly-spray, and fed probiotics & electrolytes & carrots to them to prevent any colics since they are not used to being in stuffy barn stalls. Diandra and I basically lived in Temecula for 48 hours, and found a place to spend Tuesday & Wednesday nights, in spite of no vacancy in any of the hotels and evacuation centers.

It has been an adventurous week and we are all sleep-deprived!

Thanks to Heivi for finding housing for us in Anza at a Korean Catholic retreat center on Wednesday night, and for cleaning 10 stalls for us at CRC Ranch last night. Thanks to Rob & Nichelle Whitaker for hauling six horses for us. Thanks to Alexis and her dad for making several hauls during the evacuations, as well as returning the horses today. Anyone who would like to contribute to their gas bill, please contact them directly with your donation. Thanks to Debra Fisk, TMEC neighbor, for taking care of the horses at San Luis Rey Downs with Meredith. Thanks to Alexis, Anjeanette, and Lois for taking care of the horses at Lou Roper's Ranch. Thanks to Lois for hauling four horses back to the ranch today.

Thanks to Rockridge Farm for reducing their hauling rates for evacuees down to $50.00 per horse.

If it would have been possible to house all of the horses at one location, that would have been best, but we found safe places to house the horses. Vessels was under evacuation threat, so we decided against Vessels. We all made the best choices we could under the circumstances and with the ever-changing wind patterns and news reports of closed roads, etc. Thanks to Animal Rescue for arriving with their large trailer for the four large horses @ TMEC, and for four other horses @ TMEC.

Thanks to Steve for all he did to maintain the ranch when he was supposed to have evacuated :)
Thanks to Kristie Bigham for being on standby to help haul if needed, and for checking on our needs.

Thanks to all of the many people for their support & quick-thinking that helped us get through Tuesday. All of the horses and humans were spared from getting burned in the fires. Please email me back with your stories of this week. We sure appreciate our friends, neighbors, & loved ones, and our condolences go out to those who have lost their homes.

Steve grabbed all the bridles and saddles and put them in one of the horse trailers we used to evacuate. The tack has been returned to the tackrooms. Let me know if anything is missing, but all the tack should be here - just check in the other tackroom first if you can't find something.

May the road to recovery for every San Diegan be successful!

Sally @ TMEC

10-26-07
I don't think anyone could have imagined an event more catastrophic than the Cedar Fire of 2003 until Sunday. At 2:00 AM on Monday, October 22nd, I awoke to 70 MPH winds and the strong smell of smoke in La Costa. At that moment I realized I should not be able to smell smoke from the Harris fire and immediately went to the TV to get news or information. Not one local or national station was on-air live!

At 3:00 AM channel 7 (NBC) went live and began broadcasting images and specific information. I then knew we had a serious problem with the San Marcos fire, only a few miles away from our barn. The phone calls
began around 6:00 AM and by 6:30 we were at the barn and preparing to evacuate some 30 horses and many carloads of tack, supplies, and various important items. The main problem we faced (one common I am sure
to all barns) was the lack of trailers to move the animals and where to take them.

Horse people are an amazing group. Our emergency calls went out and soon people we knew, and some we didn't, appeared with trailers and places to take our beloved animals. To make a very long, and aniexty filled,
story short; we evacuated our barn in under 5 hours. Our horses were moved to Del Mar, Bonsal, Encinitas, Bonita, and a few other locales. We moved back into our barn Thursday the 25th.

Special thanks go to Heather who graciously offered her entire facility in Bonsall for a number of our horses, Roberta and Sweetwater Farms for also providing a home and transporting a number of horses for us, Jenny - Karen - Carrie - Diana - Julie for transporting horses to various locales, and to the Julie Cecere and the staff of Windrose Farms for being so organized and focused during a very difficult time.

With appreciation a great affection,
Peter (Dad) & Emma (Rider) Karp

10-26-07
I would like to deliver a very warm and gracious thank you to everyone at Vessels Ranch in Bonsall.

Wildflower Ranch in Olivenhain evacuated 67 horses on Monday, October 22, 2007 to Vessels Ranch. I was very impressed with the organization that was demonstrated by Vessels. In addition to showing extreme organization, all of the people at Vessels Ranch were very warm, welcoming, friendly, and compassionate during this difficult time.

It is very heartfelt to experience members of our community pull together at a time like this.

Many, many thanks to Vessels Ranch for being so generous and accommodating.

Warm Regards,
Pam Noyes

Colleen Burman of Creek Hollow Ranch - 10-25-07

in Ramona reported that she lost her big house and all of her hay. But all of her horses, buffalo, barns, covered arenas are fine. She's doing good for now and will let us know if she has any needs. She plans on living in her old house that she has had on the market.

She reported that Ballena Vista, Golden Eagle and North Arabians lost their main houses

Cathy Robinson - Blue Fox Farms -10-25-07

We will be making our home temporarily at the Fairgrounds. Our top barns burned and a couple stalls in the lower barn as well but overall we survived the fire pretty well, The firefighters were amazing. We have been trail riding thru scream zone as a diversion. It's pretty surreal. Let us know if we can help anybody else out especially if there are individual owners with horses at the fairgrounds that could use some on site overseeing.

San Diego Firestorm
wreaks Havoc across the Entire County
by Cheryl Erpelding - Publisher of California Riding Magazine

Sunday Oct. 21, 2007 began as typical day for me but would end up being the beginning of the worst firestorm in the history of San Diego County and likely the worst fire disaster in the west for years to come.

I headed to the barn from my east San Diego County mountain home in Descanso to ride my horse Riding Magazine’s Press Pass. On the way, I saw a fire fighting helicopter heading south to the south east section of San Diego County. I took note but did not become concerned at first as living in the back country for the past 18 years, fires are a regular occurrence. After leaving the barn one of my friends asked if I was going to the horse show in Del Mar on the coast to watch our friends that were competing. I said no as there was a fire and we were having severe Santa Ana wind conditions that can turn into firestorms and I wanted to stay at home to monitor the fire. As I left I noticed another fire in the north eastern part of the county burning as well.

The fire to the south known as the Harris Fire started at 9:30am and began growing as high winds blowing to the west consumed the very dry brush. The Witch Creek Fire in the north east part of the county began around 1pm and was headed west from Santa Ysabel through horse country to Ramona, home to 36,000 people and thousands of horses. My trainer and friend Nancy Reed called me from the horse show on the coast at Del Mar asked if she should leave the show horses at the show. I told her to call me at 5pm and I’d give her the status as both the fires were far from the barn but growing in size. At 5pm I told her to go ahead and take the horses to Lakeside in east San Diego County as everything was OK for now. It all could change quickly, but we might as well have all of her horses she trained together in case we needed to the get organized and get the trucks and trailers in to start evacuation out of the canyon which only had one way in and out.

We watched the television and monitored the radio through the night and watched in dismay as horse trailers were not allowed to go in to the Witch Creek fire area to rescue the hundreds and possibly thousands of stranded horses. At 4:30am we got the word to move the horses out. I was already hitched up and headed east to the barn. I called my general manager Mimie Nordenstrom and had her call our San Diego employees to stay home so the roads would be clear for evacuees and rescue teams. I got in line with all of the trucks to load horses and head out. Ramona had been ordered to evacuate as was San Diego Country Estates 20 miles north of the facility that boarded our horses. We were told to go to the Del Mar Fairgrounds which has extensive stabling for large horse shows and the race track. But I told everyone that we needed to be careful since the Witch Creek fire was turning into a huge one, and could possibly go all the way to the coast 44 miles away. We loaded up the 60 plus horses that board at Hazy Meadow Sporthorse center and many of us headed towards Del Mar 30 miles north west. As we pulled into the fairgrounds the sky was thick with smoke and ash. I called Nancy who was ahead of me and said that we weren’t staying at the fairgrounds and to head back south to Roberta’s Jackson’s Sweetwater Farms in Bonita which most likely would have room for our horses. The air at the fairgrounds was awful and if the horses there all had to evacuate it would be a huge mess. My mustang Cooper went to the San Diego Charger’s practice field at Qualcomm stadium. He wasn’t in our group as he was loaded into a small two-horse trailer in order to help load and keep a nervous Paso Fino calm.

Roberta accommodated our horses and I headed back to my home as we had my retired mare and my husband’s horse boarded down the street in our friend’s pasture right across from the Descanso firestation. We still were under a threat of needing to get them out if the fires headed our way so I wanted to be close to home. Steve and I toured our area and hoped our old neighborhood and many friend’s homes in Deerhorn Valley 20 miles south of us would be saved. In the meantime the two fires became six fires all across the country growing and consuming thousands and thousands of acres. Through out the evening I watched the tv and listened to the radio and at midnight headed back to Bonita 45 miles from my house to stage as evacuation orders for the area were ordered. Nancy and I dozed in our trucks with the radio on as we were on the west end of Bonita and would watch the fire’s progression and wait to see if we would have to move the horses again. Horses from the west end of Bonita evacuated to Sweetwater Farms while we sat and waited to see if we were far away enough.

As the morning came the winds slowed but the ash made breathing difficult. Nancy and I went to get breakfast for everyone at Sweetwater and on the way helped some folks load their three yearling’s into a three-horse trailer as they decided to move further west to Imperial Beach. After breakfast the fires were burning but it looked like Sweetwater was going to be OK for the time being. We left Nancy’s 5-horse rig and she and I left to go get Cooper from Qualcomm and drop Nancy at her home where her Lakeside home was still near the fire danger. I took Cooper up to Descanso so I would have three of my horses together in case they needed to move. It was only Tues. afternoon but it felt like a week in hell. Tues. night we heard of an evacuation threat but we drove out to the firestation and sat to see if we could see anything. It looked like things were fine. We drove home and finally a complete night of sleep for me while Steve slept by the radio for any news to get out.

Wednesday morning.
It is still windy with fires south, west and north of us. The Santa Ana winds are due to subside and as the day goes by they are doing just that. The worries now are that when the winds change from offshore to onshore and blow towards the east we will have new areas that will be threatened. The total acreage gone is 300,000 acres in San Diego county alone – 11% of the county. The costs are a billion dollars. 560,000 people were evacuated to date. I would have to guess 20,000 horses were moved. Many were unable to be rescued. 1,000 more homes have been destroyed. We wait and pray that it will all end soon.

FIRE ACCOUNT
by Rebecca Sparenburg

Sunday, October 23 - posted 10-25-07
I saw the first plumes of smoke from the Witch fire as I was returning home to Descanso Sunday afternoon. But at the time I hadn’t heard of the Witch Fire, the Harris Fire or any of the others that would follow, and I wasn’t overly concerned about the smoke. I have only been in San Diego for two years, but I have already learned that fires are part of life. This wasn’t the first time I had returned home to smoke in the distance and slept with an ominous orange glow lighting the horizon.
When I returned home, turned on the news and heard the words ‘this has the possibility to be worse than the Cedar fire,’ I started to understand the gravity of the situation. Unlike the Cedar fire the officials were not letting horse trailers past the barricades into Ramona. It was heart wrenching watching people walk their burned ponies out of Ramona. I didn’t sleep that night. Not only because the fire, but because the 60 mile per hour Santa Ana winds were ripping the shingles of my roof and literally shaking my small house.

Monday, October 24
I received a call from my landlords at 12:30 a.m. telling me not to leave my house, that a piece of sheet metal that had been used to patch my roof was loose and swinging wildly in front of the door. At 2:30 a.m. my publisher, Cheryl Erpelding, was telling me to be on the look out for a fire spotted near Descanso. We couldn’t see the fire, but shortly after Cheryl called the wind took out our power.
The power was out for two hours and only five minutes after it came back on my trainer Nancy Reed called. She had been trying to reach me and Cheryl for an hour. Hazy Meadow in Lakeside was being evacuated. Within 20 minutes my landlord had helped me hook up my three horse stock trailer and I was on the road headed toward Lakeside. It was the beginning of one of the longest days of my life.
Heading down Interstate-8 I could see the fire burning around the El Capitan Reservoir. I met up with Nancy, Cheryl, my barn buddy Stephanie Jensen and her husband Richard at Hazy Meadow. Only two of the horses in Nancy’s care—my little mare, Skeeter, and Stephanie’s new mare, Isabel, still needed a ride. Cheryl took the mares and followed Nancy and Rick out. I stayed with Steph, who was in Nancy’s CRV, to help evacuate the horses that were left.
I had lost my cell phone two days earlier, so Stephanie was going to act as my navigator and radio operator. The original plan was to take the horses to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The closer we got to the fairgrounds the thicker the smoke got. Ash swirled though the air and the sun was scarcely visible. One exit away from the Fairgrounds our plans changed. I only knew this because Stephanie got off the highway too soon and we ended up circling Del Mar for 20 minutes.
Instead we were going to take the horses to Sweetwater Farms in Bonita. But first we had to go back and get two horses that were left at the Fairgrounds. The line to get into the fairgrounds was mind boggling. I’ve been to many horse shows and never seen a line like it! It stretched for over a mile, down one side of the road and back around. I followed Steph, and Rick who had joined us on the way, as we begged and pleaded our way to the front of line. After a few stops, they let us go in ahead of others because we were picking up horses, not dropping them off.
I was glad we were taking our horses somewhere else. The dirt aisles of track, combined with smoke, ash and high winds was rough on my eyes after only a few minutes. I couldn’t imagine our horses breathing it in for days. But we only had room to take one horse and we had two at the fairgrounds.
In the end we took the smaller of the two, Ernie, a little bay Thoroughbred. I held Nancy’s big chestnut hunter, Fred, while Steph maneuvered Ernie into the first, larger trailer stall with a small cob, Chief. Fred made a wonderful wind bearing and was more than willing to let me hide my face in his neck while we waited to reload him. Nancy and Cheryl called and told us they were coming for the other horse, Buggs, so we ended up leaving him.
The trip from Del Mar to Bonita went smoothly. It was the last smooth trip of the day. As we were unloading at Sweetwater Stephanie got a call from Teresa and Dan Kackert, of Great Horses of America, they had 30 horses and were being evacuated in Jamul. Nancy had left her seven horse rig, so Rick took her trailer, Steph hopped in their truck and borrowed trailer and I followed.
I thought I lived in the boonies, but compared to where Great Horses is located I am practically in the suburbs. We had to travel down two dirt roads to get to the farm and at one point I was sure Steph was lost. However, we finally arrived at the farm, with only one small detour to pick up two horses.
Despite its remote location, the farm was lovely and the horses all loaded with no problems. That said, my truck was not intended to ever pull four horses. Coming down the dirt road I immediately started sliding sideways coming down the first hill. I had to stop and have Rick drive my truck to the main road.
It was not much better driving on pavement. My brakes started smoking coming down a long hill and for a few panicked moments I thought I was going to start the ninth San Diego fire. Rick once again saved me. He told me how to use my first and second gears to slow the truck down to avoid straining my brakes. I kept rolling along in first gear and my brakes cooled down. I, however, took substantially longer to cool down.
We, the horses and me, made it to Granite Hills all in one piece. Stephanie immediately asked me if I was o.k. I told her, “I’m shaking like a leaf and I need a bigger truck…a way bigger truck.” She just laughed, and told me that she knew if I had to I would do it all over again, because someone would do it for me!
And I did. We made a second trip back up the mountain to Great Horses. By the time we unloaded horses at Granite Hills and started back they had fire barricades up and the roads were closed. We had to play our trump card. As a retired fire captain the police and Cal Fire would occasionally let Rick lead trailers into areas that were under evacuation.
It didn’t work. The police turned us away at the first barricade. So we tried again, after a few minutes of discussion they said they would let Rick lead us in. I couldn’t have asked for better leader. Steph and Rick repeatedly checked in with me to make sure I was alright.
Stephanie wanted to make sure I was comfortable following them past the police barricades. Cheryl was already home and had called to let me know that if Descanso was evacuated she would get my other horse, Prize. With my animals taken care of, I told Stephanie I would go whereever they needed me.
Driving back we pasted between two mountains and into a valley. Over the Western Ridge I could see smoke, but it seemed far away. I couldn’t imagine why they where evacuating the area. I was very wrong.
With the addition of Great Horse’s seven horse trailer, we managed to get the last of Teresa and Dan’s horses out and even loaded a truck full of hay and bedding. We began our hike back to Granite Hill, my new knowledge of how to use my gears to slow down made the journey far easier.
We rounded a mountain corner and started to make our way back into the valley. Until that moment I thought I understood what a firestorm was; I had no idea. The ridge where just two hours before there had only been distant smoke was alight with flame; the image of it is forever burned into my mind. Fire outlined the entire ridge as far as I could see, and on other distant ridges flames danced, igniting anything in their path. It was frightening, and yet, eerily beautiful all at once.
By the time we made it to Granite Hills it was 9 a.m. I had been going for hours and was exhausted, but a call came from a couple in West Alpine that need help evacuating. They only had a two horse trailer and they owned four horses; they also had no place to go.
In the end I went to get the horse and told their owner, Carol, she could bring them to my house in Descanso. We didn’t have any open stalls, but the round pen and turnout corrals were open. Carol and her husband took two of their horses and I took their two Peruvian Pasos, Misty and Jazz, in my trailer. Together we made our way to Descanso.
The highway was closed to high profile vehicles, due to high winds. One exit away from Descanso the police detoured us off the highway, my only way home. Despite the fact that the San Diego police had let Cheryl up I-8 several times with her trailer they decided our trailers were high profile. I was panicked. I just wanted to go home.
I called Steph, who called Cheryl, who told me to try and explain my situation to the police one more time before she explained to me how to take the back way up the mountain--a gravel road across the Indian reservation. After my experience on the dirt road it was the last thing I wanted to do.
We turned around and I pleaded with the police, and they took pity on me. They gave us a police escort to my exit, and I was told me to go directly to my exit no stopping. I felt like I was playing Monopoly, ‘yes Officer, I will go directly to jail without passing go and collecting my two hundred dollars!’
But it was Murphy’s law, just when you think it can’t get worst, it will find a way. We made it all the way up my mountain and as we turned onto my street we saw flames two ridges away; and the power was out, again. My gut was twisting.
After much debating we decided I would keep Misty and Jazz with me, since I had animals I still had to evacuate at my house and I hadn’t packed anything. After talking with my landlords we decided to wait and keep an eye on the hotspot which turned out to be an off shot of the McCoy Fire.
By the time I made it home Monday I hadn’t slept in 48 hours, I hadn’t seen a hairbrush in 36 hours and I had been on the road for almost 18 hours. A hairbrush I was able to find, even in the dark, but sleep was still nowhere in sight.

Tuesday, October 23
I set my alarm for 1:30 a.m. so I could check the status of the hotspot. I figured if I was going to have to evacuate I should try and get some sleep before hand. When I woke up, the fire was the same, a few flames two ridges away. But it didn’t appear any closer, so I set my alarm for 3:30 and went back to bed.
When the alarm went off again, the flames were out. While I slept the winds finally worked in our favor. Pushing the small fire back on the burn area and depriving the fire of fuel. For the first time in what felt like an eternity I was able to sleep deeply.
I spent Tuesday morning caring for the horses left at my house and packing a few possessions in case we got the reverse 9-1-1 call. The evacuation order on Carol’s house was lifted and she was able to come retrieve her horses that afternoon. Having two horses in two different locations I could understand her urge to have them all home with her. Carol and Dan had spent the previous night at Granite Hills with their other two horses. I was very lucky that my mare was with Nancy, who I know and trusted to care for her and make sure she was safely evacuated again if the need arose. Carol didn’t know me, but she trusted me with her horses. It says a lot of the nature of San Diego as a community.
I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. As I was evacuating horses Monday, people would stop next to our caravan at stop light and ask if we needed a place to take our horses. They would let us know what local places were taking horses or offer their own farm. One woman told us her barn was full, but offered to open up her back yard for us. Others offered to buy supplies—hay, feed, and water buckets— whatever we needed.
I spent the rest of the day like many others, contacting friends in the area to see if they needed help, calming my family and friends on the East Coast and watching the news with my landlords and neighbors. Around 7 p.m. we heard that Julian to the North and Cuyamaca to the East were being evacuated. It was time to pack our vehicles.
With everything already packed, getting our vehicles loaded up was easy. We called 2-1-1 for info and it said Descanso was under a mandatory evacuation. However, we did not receive the reserve 9-1-1, so we decided to once again sit tight. It had been on the news that several people accidentally received evacuation notices because the system can’t differentiate between the different towns. When I went to bed Tuesday night we could see the glow from Julian on the horizon.

Wednesday, October 24
Everything was calm in my area Wednesday morning so I decided to go visit Teresa and Dan and see how the equestrians were faring at Granite Hills High School. The facility was far less crowded than it was two days ago and people had dropped off tons of supplies for people and horses.
However, things weren’t looking good for Teresa and Dan’s house. The Jamul fire was sneaking closer and closer to their house. It mad my heart sick to think of their lovely farm burning, so far out, I couldn’t imagine a fire truck finding it. But they were both happy that they had evacuated early; with only one road in and out Dan says the roads were packed yesterday with people that had delayed and stayed until the last minute.
But a dozen enthusiastic volunteers had come out to walk horses for them. With no corrals the horses had to be tied to poles on the chain link fences. Some let the horses graze, while other volunteers trotted horses in hand. Everyone was doing their part - even their oldest daughter, Patricia, did her part. At only 5-years-old, she had haltered her pony, Pink Heart, and their miniature donkey, Banjo, to prepare them for evacuation and loaded them into Nancy’s trailer.
When I left Granite Hills High School Teresa and Dan’s children where playing with their grandmother, while their parents organized the volunteers.
I spent part of the afternoon driving around Lakeside, El Cajon and Jamul with my neighbor and friend, Kristen Peliosis. The smoke plumes were amazing; we could see them from miles away. I took a few photos but they just didn’t do the scene justice.
As of Wednesday evening over 300,000 acres had burned, 521,000 people have been evacuated and it is estimated that approximately 1,700 homes have been lost. Both the Del Mar Racetrack, which holds 1,800 horses and the Del Mar Show Park are packed to full capacity. Thousands of horses and other livestock have been evacuated, some two or three times as the fire grew or changed directions. But you don’t hear people saying they are fire victims, instead San Diegans are saying they are survivors.

A FIRE RUNS THROUGH IT

We saw these horses standing here right in the middle of all the smoke and fires smoldering and the aftermath of the main fire that ran through here. I almost couldn't believe that about 25 horses were standing here and their fences had all melted or burned away.

Their owners had escaped but they were unable to evacuate the horses. The horse evacuation area at the Del Mar race track was already full with 1800+ horses, so they just left them in this large open space area which was the safest thing for the horses.

A neighbor had called the horse ranch owner Debbie, and told her that the worst of the fires had already passed, so they returned and I offered to help round up their horses.

It was extremely smokey, hot, windy. I could feel the radiant heat from glowing embers everywhere, there were flames all around and lots of smoke. All the surrounding hillsides had flames advancing. I am not much of a horse person but I figured I could handle it so i started grabbing the horses by the bridle, one or two at a time and leading them back to the safety of the barn, soon I got ahold of some lead ropes to clip to the horses which helped.

I was worried the the horses might freak because of all the surrounding flames and glowing embers but they seemed follow my lead ok. I wanted so bad to get better photos but I also wanted to help these people and horses so I had to make do with the situation.

After we got all the horses to the safety of the barn, we picked up shovels and started shoveling dirt on all the various burning flames and embers flying all around towards the barn. I didn't know these people or barely what I was doing but they were thankful for the extra help, so I kept working as long as I could.

It was just two ladies there to safeguard about 40 horses, they wanted one of us to stay but we couldn't. Getting in and out of this area was so difficult. The smoke was so thick I could barely breathe or see.

I told the ladies I would come back and I asked them what they needed, they said water and buckets to give water to the horses, (their water was not flowing). I was afraid the cops would not let me return to the area if I left, then I found a working hose and many buckets at a neighbors ranch. So I filled a bunch of buckets with water, put them in my jeep and returned back to the horses and ladies. They said I was like an angel and thanked me for the help.

There were a number of cops around questioning my movements but I had to just confidently act my part, like I belonged there, if I was to get through and continue to help these horses and ladies. At one point I asked why there were so many cops suddenly out on the street and he said to protect homes from the looters who were out doing their thing.

The neighbor from where I borrowed the water and buckets was also frantic and asking for help. One of her hoses had sprung a major leak and she asked if I could do something about that. I said I had duct tape in my jeep that could probably fix it. So with my flashlight I searched for and found the duct tape and I wrapped it in tight layers across the hose.

Some cops came down the long driveway and were announcing that we had to leave because of the mandatory evacuation. The lady told me they could go to hell because her life was tied up in this multi-million $$ home / horse ranch property, she had just acquired the whole thing in her recent divorce, and there was no way she was going to leave. So she asked me to drive down the hill to avoid the cops and to check on a major finger of the fire advancing up the hill in her direction.

When we got down the hill we could see huge flames and widespread fire working its way up the canyon. There were people there with hoses fighting the fire back from their home also. They wanted to know if there were more threatening flames on the other side of the hill where we had come from. I told them that the worst of it was right where they were.

All I can say is that this was the most intense part of this entire firestorm for me, helping to save these horses and the ranches. I was especially glad I could do something worthwhile to help, rather than just look around and take photos.

This photo was picked up by Yahoo News, so the views are skyrocketing. Also it is moving up in Explore. It's from my iphone cam and I'm thrilled because this is the proof I was looking for to help people understand (including me) it is the photographer, not the camera that counts.

click here for an article about Stress On Animals

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