Wildfire evacuation

[Kiki]

Thank you. A lot more than the birds and half the dogs were lost, truthfully. I also left behind a cow, 2 of the goats I could not get loaded, and my cat. I did open all of the pens before I fled, so can always hope for the best! But, it being the middle of the night and everything, I doubt the birds made it.

 

[ShannonR]

I think so, too. Thank you for posting this. There are several fire maps, and many don't include dates and times. And there are discrepancies, which can be confusing. But so far it does seem my house is okay.

It's a miracle it hasn't burned. We don't get how they were able to keep it from crossing Placer. When we left my husband felt we were running for our lives, with the fire racing down the mountainside behind us and the exploding transformers and propane tanks.

When the evacuation and closure lifts, we'll go home and I'll waste no time volunteering with the animal rescue groups. They're in desperate need of help.

I'm so happy to hear good news on your house so far!! All my neighbors, friends, my dad, everyone I know lost their place. I need this good news.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Just ran across this thread, am in shock, OP did a great job of doing what she could at the last min. Thoughts and prayers to all in this situation. OP please keep us posted on how you and yours are doing. As always us BYCers are here for you in any way we can help. Take care
ETA: @Sunshine Flock sorry to refer to you as OP, will know better from now on, was just so greatfull you and DH were OK.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I think the best thing I can do is head back to Redding, put on my super hero cape (just washed it) and jump in and boldly help.

It makes no sense sitting here on my damn computer.

Read my tweets for updates: twitter.com/cbdelauder

Go back to help? Help what? You need to take care of your husband and yourself and just wait it out

Haven't read through this thread yet, just the first post.

I got burned out of old Shasta in the middle of the night, so quickly that I lost all of my birds, along with my home. I evacuated I to town where I thought it was safe. Took my 4 dogs with me. While out running errands and getting dinner, the place I evacuated to also burned to the ground. Only 2 of my dogs have survived, as I could not get through the road closures to save them.

Was this also the Carr fire for you? I'm so sorry you lost it all! Just remember people are more important than animals, and stuff can be replaced.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I think so, too. Thank you for posting this. There are several fire maps, and many don't include dates and times. And there are discrepancies, which can be confusing. But so far it does seem my house is okay.

It's a miracle it hasn't burned. We don't get how they were able to keep it from crossing Placer. When we left my husband felt we were running for our lives, with the fire racing down the mountainside behind us and the exploding transformers and propane tanks.

When the evacuation and closure lifts, we'll go home and I'll waste no time volunteering with the animal rescue groups. They're in desperate need of help.

Praying your house and animals make it through okay. We were evacuated at the start of the Sonoma county fires last October. Trying to get everyone and everything packed up at 2 am is not easy. Fortunately for us, our house was spared, although fire came very close twice, but saved by fire fighters lighting backfires. They were amazing.
Two things I want to share from my experiences... First, even after the immediate danger to your home is over, you may not be allowed back into the area for some time. We were not allowed to return until power was restored, 5 days after the fire was out in our area. Second, our county animal control officers were allowed into restricted areas, long before we were, to care for animals left behind. We called and got on the list for them to feed and water one broody hen that accidentally got left behind. They went in the same day I called and left notes for us detailing the care.

I still get emotional over the fact that with all the devastating loss everywhere, there was someone who cared enough and was willing to go look after a single grumpy broody.

Thank you. A lot more than the birds and half the dogs were lost, truthfully. I also left behind a cow, 2 of the goats I could not get loaded, and my cat. I did open all of the pens before I fled, so can always hope for the best! But, it being the middle of the night and everything, I doubt the birds made it.

I am so sorry for your losses. I don't think many of us are prepared to deal with this type of emergency. The fires move more quickly than can be imagined, and the chaos and fear when it gets close can be crippling. Emergency crews do their best, but even they can't always keep up with unpredictable wildfires. I had several hours notice that the fire was near, before mandatory evacuation was ordered, and even then it felt unreal and I struggled with how and what and who to take away, plus notifying neighbors and my elderly father who was in an evacuation zone as well.
You did well to get yourself out to safety and give your animals a chance to get away. It is heartbreaking.

 

[PennyM]

My heart just hurts reading these. I'll keep praying for all of you involved and can only hope this helps. I can't even imagine...

 

[chickadoodles]

So sorry. Sending prayers your way.

 

[bobbi-j]

Haven't read through this thread yet, just the first post.

I got burned out of old Shasta in the middle of the night, so quickly that I lost all of my birds, along with my home. I evacuated I to town where I thought it was safe. Took my 4 dogs with me. While out running errands and getting dinner, the place I evacuated to also burned to the ground. Only 2 of my dogs have survived, as I could not get through the road closures to save them.

Thank you. A lot more than the birds and half the dogs were lost, truthfully. I also left behind a cow, 2 of the goats I could not get loaded, and my cat. I did open all of the pens before I fled, so can always hope for the best! But, it being the middle of the night and everything, I doubt the birds made it.

So sorry to hear of your losses!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Just ran across this thread, am in shock, OP did a great job of doing what she could at the last min. Thoughts and prayers to all in this situation. OP please keep us posted on how you and yours are doing. As always us BYCers are here for you in any way we can help. Take care
ETA: @Sunshine Flock sorry to refer to you as OP, will know better from now on, was just so greatfull you and DH were OK.

My name is Carla.

Thanks for all of these comments. I'm really grateful. It looks like we're still under mandatory evacuation, so we can't return home. But if you were to see what we saw when we left in a panic, it's a miracle our home survived. It didn't burn into our small rural neighborhood at all.

On a map you'll see Placer heading south out of Redding. The west side is a massive fire zone, where it all spread out of control from the origination point on the other side of Whiskeytown Lake. On the east side of Placer for a long stretch, nothing but a few spot fires that don't seem to have spread. They used Placer as a fire break and attacked it with everything to keep the fire contained to the west side.

Because of Placer and their excellent fire defense, we're safe so far. But Henry is exposed to a barrage of predators on the move from the fire. They're at high risk, but at least they have a fighting chance now that animal control was there and let them out of their yard. This exposed them even more to predators, but we're dealing with high heat. They need to be under the back deck during the day. They come out of there refrigerated.

And they need to be able to move around should the fire change direction and overcome our property.

I'm just sorry to hear what you're going through right now, Shannon, and your family and neighbors. You're such a short distance from where we live. It's hard to believe a quick drive and suddenly it's a fire disaster zone.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

@Sunshine Flock I’m so happy to hear that your house is okay.