Friday, December 08, 2017

VIDEO Horses Killed, Others Evacuated From California Wildfires

Pat Raia

...But while Davis and others were able to rescue those Ventura County horses, they could reach Rancho Padilla, in Los Angeles County, where 29 of the 60 horses residing there died when fire swept through their barn. “We're told that the fire just came up too fast,” Davis said. “They just had no time.” Similarly, fire descended rapidly upon San Luis Rey Downs Training Center, in San Diego County. While grooms, trainers, and others were able to evacuate a number of horses to facilities including the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the rapidly approaching fire eventually forced caretakers to turn horses loose in hopes they’d escape the flames on their own. One rescuer streamed the evacuations and attempts to save the horses live on Facebook; the video can be viewed at facebook.com/leonel.smithors.5/videos/1704055856329056/. In the immediate aftermath, it was clear that multiple barns had been destroyed and that some horses had perished; however, the exact number of equine fatalities isn’t yet known. But the fire itself hasn’t been the only roadblock for evacuation teams, said Larry Langer, owner of the Hansen Dan Equestrian Center, which has become a destination for 400 horses removed from the fire zone. “The roads have been blocked and it’s been impossible to contact the authorities, so people who had horses that were evacuated just couldn't get in to take care of them,” Langer said. “It's been a logistical nightmare.” While many roads remain closed, fire crews have made some progress battling the blazes, according to CalFire. But containment has been slow. As of last night, the Thomas fire in Ventura County was 5% contained while the Creek and Rye fires in Los Angeles County were 10% and 15% contained, respectively. The still-spreading fires will likely still force even more evacuations. In that event, Davis said the region's equestrian community will continue to step up to the challenge. “We've had hundreds of trucks on stand-by, and made sure that horses whose owners who were away for the holidays are getting moved,” she said. “This is devastating, but to see our equestrian community come together is amazing....more”

Here is the mentioned video

https://www.facebook.com/leonel.smithors.5/videos/1704055856329056/


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Frank for posting this video - a few people I know are stabled at San Luis Rey.

I want to point out some time-saving safety tips in case of emergencies.

1) It's best to hang halters near each stall or pen - but wherever they're hung - leave the halter straps UNBUCKLED.

...this saves time by not having to unbuckle each halter when hastily trying to get your horses haltered.

2) Don't waste time tucking the halter strap neatly into its keeper - as I saw was done with some horses in this video - just get 'em on & go..!!!

3) As in this case where it was necessary to turn horses loose - don't even bother with halters at all - besides too many horses would be in panic mode and more difficult to halter.

...save the haltering for horses that won't leave their stalls.

4) The partially loaded trailers should just leave when the fire got to the barns for two reasons:

...to avoid the rescued horses from being trapped and burned alive in the trailer if conditions suddenly change and prevented the rigs to drive out safely.

...the time wasted loading the other horses could be better spent getting more horses out of the barns...there's 40 acres of a dirt racetrack on the grounds for them to run loose on.