Witch Creek Fire 2007 Witch Creek Fire – 2007 Saturday, October 28. Descanso is celebrating it annual Vaquero Days celebration. We have our booth set up and are greeting cowboys, cowgirls and curious onlookers. The cowboys and cowgirls greet us back in a way only they know. We have our items that are for raffle set up on our table along with information about the group. Lynne Hunter and Jan Pickton are with me today. There are lots of people and there are plenty of booths to be looked at. Another typical Vaquero Days celebration. Friends, food, laughter and competition in the rings. Sunday, October 29. The wind is blowing hard on this third day of a southern California Santa Ana. As we reach the exit off of Hwy. 8 for Descanso, the truck is being blown from lane to lane. We arrive in Descanso to find our booth has been wrecked due to the howling wind. Today Rita Bledsoe is with Jan and I.. We decide that the wind is too much for us to continue so we start packing up items and placing them in the truck. Word gets to us that Malibu had caught on fire and is racing through the canyons devouring homes and lives. We start throwing the rest of the stuff in the truck and head for home knowing that we may get called up there. We arrive home and Rita follows us in. We quickly unpack the truck and uncover the command van and get it ready to roll. The stock trailers are hooked up, heading out. Members are called and put on standby. Then the call comes in. It’s not Malibu; it’s our own town, Ramona along with Campo, Dulzura and Potrero.. A power line has been blown down and started a brush fire. Now that’s not normally a big event here in Ramona. We have some of the best wildland firefighters in the state. But we also have 40-50 mile an hour winds feeding oxygen to this fire, and it gets away. Within half an hour we have our evacuation center set up at Bobby Neal’s ranch. Emergency Animal Rescue members start showing up and getting ready. Everything falls into place. We practice for this. We know what we’re doing. The calls for help have already started coming in from Kate Simpson who had the duty pager. She was in Escondido doing the Escondido Street Faire. She broke that down and headed to Ramona. Within an hour we are fully staffed and are bringing animals in. Horses, dogs, cats, goats, geese. Mobile units are dispatched one after another all day long and into the night. Several members have taken the far eastern part of the County evacuating one after another. Law enforcement, knowing us and our training and capabilities, assist in getting us past the police lines to effect rescues. Even wishing us good luck as we pass them at their post. Rescues took us into burning neighborhoods where the animals own shelter was ablaze. Animals whose homes had already been destroyed. Finding them wandering amidst the smoke and ashes, not knowing whether to protect it or leave with us. A final walk around at one address found a cat (Burnie) that had huddled against some brush at the base of a palm tree. He had become stuck to the tree when the fire flashed over. The hair partially gone, the ears singed and the eyes burned down to raw flesh. This guy went immediately to our triage center at the evacuation center. Nancy Kontz is our nurse in charge. She cared for so many animals over the 7-day ordeal. They are alive today because of her. There were other vets that would make periodic checks in with us to administer medication and check ups. One dog had to be sent off to a veterinarian’s office, as his burns were just too severe for our infirmary. Nancy and her assistants worked tirelessly through day and night to comfort and heal these animals. Hydration, smoke inhalation and burns were the most prevalent problems. They worked on animals not normally handled; as in goats and foxes. But they made it work. This activity went on for a week. Not only rescues but also sheltering in place. Those who couldn’t get home due to police lines or couldn’t take their animals in the total evacuation of Ramona, could call us and we would go to their homes and feed and water their pets and livestock. Over 400 in all were sheltered in place. Stock trailers were loaded with bales of Bermuda and water was brought in in 500-gallon tanks thanks to Larry “the water guy”. These people would take the feed and water and deliver it to herds twice a day for days. Others would visit homes and feed the dogs, cats, birds and fish of homeowners who were stuck “down the hill”. These animals were cared for as if they were our own. Here in Ramona, that’s what we do. The week went by and the town was again open. Owners started getting reunited with their pets. Trips back home started for these animals. They were very happy. The owners were happy that their pets were safe and cared for. There were many thank yous and hugs. There were many tears. Some people don’t realize that these animals are their children and mean as much to the family. We understand this. That’s why we do what we do.